William Frederick Crew, son of Susan Elizabeth Crew, of Brockley, London, enlisted into the Royal Artillery and later volunteered for airborne forces.Private Crew undertook parachute training course 20 at RAF Ringway and completed two jumps form the balloon and five from an aircraft. Course 20 ran from 27 July to 3 August 1942.

He was posted to Mortars Platoon, Support Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion (2nd Para Bn) at Bulford.

In November 1942 he was posted to North Africa on Operation Torch, he then went to Sicily and Italy before returning to the UK in November 1943.

Pte Crew jumped into Arnhem on 17 September 1944 on Operation Market Garden. The following day he was killed in the Rhine bridge area.

Pte Crew was 24 years old when he died, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Memorial of the Missing at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, near Nijmegen.