He was serving with 98 squadron. He was a crew member of Mitchell II FL179 VO- which was on a training exercise. It crashed near Attleborough in Norfolk, killing all three crew members.
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: 1942; W.R. Chorley; 1994; Midland Counties Publications; ISBN 0 904597 89 X
The Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail 24/11/1942 reports:
"Killed in flying accident.
Flight-Sergt. William Smith Crowe (24), husband of Mrs. Catherine Crowe, of 22 Hart Road, West Hartlepool, and only son of Mrs. Catherine Crowe of James Street, West Hartlepool, has been killed in a flying accident.
He was married seventeen months ago, and there is one child, aged six months. Flight-Sergt. Crowe, a wireless operator-air gunner, joined the Volunteer Reserve before the war began and had taken part in numerous operational flights over enemy territory.
In a letter to his widow, a senior officer writes: 'Your husband and his crew served under my command in my previous squadron and gained the deep respect of all personnel as a brave, conscientious crew. Since joining this squadron they have once again won the admiration and respect of us all, and we all feel that their loss is a very personal one.'"
Acknowledgements: Simon Glancey.
William Smith Crowe is remembered in Hartlepool on H115.41, in West Hartlepool on W111.55, in the RAF Book of Remembrance 1939-45 page 19, and in the List of Hartlepool Military and civilians