The Pilots of 41 Squadron RAF, 1939-1945

Surnames Commencing with W


Name WAGNER, Herbert Appleton 'Wag'
Number 130242
Rank Flight Lieutenant
Nationality American in RAFVR
Born Garrison, Maryland, USA, 10 November 1920
Arrived 3 May 1943
Departed 2 June 1944
Notes Shot down over Guernsey and captured, 2 June 1944; repatriated May 1945; relinquished commission October 1945; died 26 November 2005

Name WAINWRIGHT, Derek William
Number 88721
Rank Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Jaffa, Palestine, 28 October 1921
Arrived ca. 14 April 1942 (first mentioned on this date)
Departed 10 June 1942
Notes Commissioned November 1940; WIA but DOW 10 June 1942, aged 20; son of Mr. & Mrs. William Frederick Wainwright, & husband of Joy D. Wainwright of Bayswater, London; buried in Tangmere St. Andrew Churchyard, Sussex, Plot E, Row 3, Grave 496

Name WALKER, James Richard
Number 41500
Rank Flying Officer
Nationality Canadian
Born Unknown
Arrived 29 September 1940
Departed 19 October 1940
Notes Commissioned October 1938; KIFA when aircraft ran out of fuel at sea between HMS Argus and Malta (transfer to 261 Sqdn.), 16 November 1940, aged 20; son of F. R. & Emily Walker of Oak Bay, BC, Canada; remembered on Panel 6 of the Runnymede Memorial (see also Robert J. Boret, who died in the same incident)

Name WALL, Peter R.
Number 1387647
Rank Flight Sergeant
Nationality British
Born Croydon, Surrey, 11 May 1921
Arrived 1943
Departed December 1943
Decorations OBE (1981)
Notes Employed 43 years in the Home Office after the War, retired 1981, died 2003

Name WALLENS, Ronald Walter 'Wally'
Number 70708
Rank Pilot Officer, Flying officer
Nationality British
Born Amblecote, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, 1 February 1916
Term 1 26 March-8 August 1938
Term 2 7 October 1938-5 September 1940
Term 3 April 1941
Decorations DFC (1944)
Notes Shot down and seriously WIA over the Thames Estuary, 5 September 1940, & hospitalised until April 1941; returned to 41 Squadron but ordered to undertake further convalescence; flying status re-issued 1943 and posted to ASR duties; died 13 November 1995; See also: The Crash of Pilot Officer R. W. "Wally" Wallens, 1940

Name WARE, James Philip 'Jimmy'
Number A.420311
Rank Flight Sergeant, Warrant Officer
Nationality Australian
Born Epping NSW, Australia, 4 February 1921
Arrived 8 June 1944
Departed 27 October 1944
Notes Dishonourable discharge, January 1946; see also Selected Entries from "Fighter Command War Diaries", 3 October 1943 - 27 June 1944

Name WARREN, Kenneth George
Number 1203923
Rank Flight Sergeant
Nationality British
Born Hampton in Arden, Birmingham, 18 January 1920
Arrived 1 April 1942
Departed 2 September 1942
Notes Commissioned January 1944; moved to Canada after the war

Name WATSON, F. [Forename?]
Number Unknown
Rank Sergeant Pilot
Nationality British
Born 8 June 1920[?]
Arrived 14 July 1941
Departed 21 August 1941
Decorations Unknown
Notes Little more known about this pilot

Name WATTON, Albert John
Number 964827/121076
Rank Flight Sergeant/Pilot Officer
Nationality British
Born Birmingham, 10 April 1917
Arrived 24 August 1941
Departed 13 June 1942 (last mentioned in ORB on this date)
Decorations DFC (1945), Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air (1958)
Notes Commissioned April 1942; remained in RAF after the War; retired 1972 as Flight Lieutenant

Name WATTS, Edward George Hullet
Number 1051882
Rank Sergeant Pilot/Flight Sergeant
Nationality British
Born London, 11 February 1919
Arrived 5 December 1941
Departed 12 April 1942
Notes KIA during Circus 122 to Hazebrouck Marshalling Yards, France, 12 April 1942, aged 22; son of Edward A. & Beatrice Watts, & husband of Margaret Watts of Stockwell, London; buried in Dunkirk Town Cemetery Nord, France, Plot 2, Row 3, Grave 5

Name WAWN, Clive Newton 'Bardie'
Number 400163
Rank Acting Flight Lieutenant
Nationality Australian
Born Windsor, Victoria, Australia, 5 November 1910
Arrived 15 February 1942
Departed 26 February 1942
Decorations DFC (1942)
Notes Commissioned December 1941; transferred to RAAF Reserve, non-active duty, July 1944

Name WEBSTER, John Terence 'Terry'
Number 37436
Rank Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Liverpool, 20 March 1916
Arrived 11 April 1938
Departed 5 September 1940
Decorations DFC (1940)
Notes Commissioned August 1935; KIFA during combat in MAC with Flt. Lt. R. E. Lovett of 73 Squadron, 5 September 1940; remembered on Panel 4 of the Darlington Memorial in Durham; see also: The Loss of Flight Lieutenant John T. Webster, 1940

Name WEEDS, Brian Morrell
Number 413525
Rank Warrant Officer
Nationality New Zealander
Born Invercargill, New Zealand, 15 April 1922
Arrived 18 August 1944
Departed 9 October 1944
Notes Not commissioned; died Invercargill, New Zealand, 13 February 1998

Name WELLS, Edward Preston 'Hawkeye' & 'Bill'
Number NZ39950
Rank Pilot Officer
Nationality New Zealander
Born Cambridge, New Zealand, 26 July 1916
Arrived 2 October 1940
Departed 9 March 1941
Decorations DFC (1941), Bar to DFC (1941), DSO (1942)
Notes Commissioned October 1939; released from RNZAF in UK & commissioned in RAF, February 1947; retired June 1960; died 4 November 2005

Name WELSH, Terence Deane
Number 42033
Rank Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Staines, Middlesex, 28 January 1915
Arrived at least 5 November 1943
Departed early 1944
Decorations DFC (1941)
Notes Commissioned April 1939; discharged 5 May 1954

Name WEST, Hamish
Number 34058
Rank Squadron Leader
Nationality British
Born Lossiemouth, Scotland, 15 February 1914
Arrived 23 June 1940
Departed 26 July 1940
Notes Commissioned March 1943; supernumerary Squadron Leader whilst with 41 Sqdn.; retired July 1953, retaining Wing Commander

Name WHALE, Frederick Victor 'Vickie'
Number 1376359
Rank Warrant Officer
Nationality British
Born London, 14 April 1920
Arrived 7 March 1945
Departed 22 February 1946
Notes Commissioned 1949; retired February 1961, retaining Flight Lieutenant; died 2000

Name WHEATLEY, Peter Etherington
Number 1537032
Rank Warrant Officer
Nationality British
Born Hull, Yorkshire, 13 February 1922
Arrived 10 April 1945
Departed 7 January 1946
Notes Died Hull, December 1989

Name WHITE, Frederick Cheslyn
Number A.403614
Rank Sergeant Pilot
Nationality Australian
Born Ashfield, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 19 March 1916
Arrived 2 September 1942
Departed 15 October 1942
Notes Commissioned November 1944; released from RAAF as Flying Officer, 8 August 1946

Name WHITEFORD, Cyril John Leyland
Number 777650
Rank Sergeant Pilot
Nationality Rhodesian
Born Worcester Cape, South Africa, 12 March 1919
Arrived 27 August 1941
Departed 13 October 1941
Notes KIA 13 October 1941, aged 22; son of Major V. J. & Mrs. Whiteford of Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia; buried in Aylesham Cemetery, Kent, Block O, Row A, Grave 1

Name WILKINSON, John Francis 'Johnny'
Number 150189
Rank Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Northampton, 1 February 1923
Arrived 21 July 1944
Departed 30 December 1945
Notes Commissioned February 1943; anecdotal account of his time with 41 Squadron held by the Imperial War Museum in London

Name WILLIAMS, Marx Gardner
Number 64271
Rank Pilot Officer
Nationality British
Born Marseilles, France, 13 January 1920
Arrived 21 June 1941
Departed 18 August 1941
Notes Commissioned February 1941; shot down over St. Omer & captured, 18 August 1941; relinquished commission May 1946, retaining Flight Lieutenant

Name WILLMOTT, Thomas William
Number 997799
Rank Sergeant Pilot
Nationality British
Born 28 July 1917
Arrived ca. 11 February 1941
Departed 11 May 1941
Decorations DFM (1942), Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air (1960)
Notes Commissioned March 1942; retired August 1960, retaining Squadron Leader

Name WILSON, George S. [Middle name?]
Number 1007094
Rank Flight Sergeant, Warrant Officer
Nationality Trinidadian
Born St. James, Trinidad, 13 May 1922
Arrived 11 March 1943
Departed ca. 1943
Notes Little further known about this pilot

Name WILSON, William Renton 'Jock'
Number 1104573
Rank Flight Sergeant
Nationality British
Born Edinburgh, Scotland, 10 March 1921
Arrived 31 October 1941
Departed ca. July 1942
Notes KIA whilst serving with 1435 Squadron, Malta, 16 October 1942; remembered on Panel 3, Column 2, of the Malta Memorial

Name WINSKILL, Archibald Little 'Archie'
Number 84702
Rank Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Penrith, Cumberland, 24 January 1917
Arrived 6 January 1941
Departed 14 August 1941
Decorations DFC (1942), Bar to DFC (1943), AE (1944), CBE (1960), CVO (1973), KCVO (1979)
Notes Commissioned August 1940; shot down near Calais, France, 14 August 1941, but evaded capture and returned to the UK in December 1941; retired December 1968, retaining Air Commodore; Captain of Queen's Flight, 1968-1972; died 9 August 2005

Name WOOD, Robert Leslie
Number 119101
Rank Pilot Officer, Flying Officer
Nationality British
Born Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, 25 May 1922
Arrived 14 July 1942
Departed 21 October 1942
Notes Commissioned January 1942; hit by AA/KIA whilst serving with 609 Squadron near Le Havre, France, 11 May 1944, aged 21; son of Herbert L. & Ivy E. Wood of Great Dunmow, Essex; remembered on Panel 204 of the Runnymede Memorial

Name WOOLLARD, Frederick Gilbert 'Freddie'
Number 1312058
Rank Flight Sergeant
Nationality British
Born Newtown, Berkley, Gloucestershire, 20 December 1920
Arrived 18 December 1943
Departed 18 July 1944
Notes Injured at Lympne in crash-landing and hospitalised; required plastic surgery for nose, 18 July 1944

Name WOOLLEY, Frank Geoffrey
Number 105174
Rank Flight Lieutenant
Nationality British
Born Derby, 1 June 1922
Arrived 29 January 1945
Departed 28 February 1945
Decorations DFC (1941), Bar to DFC (1945), King’s Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air (1949), AFC (1956)
Notes Commissioned March 1941; attained Wing Commander, 1 January 1956; KIFA in B2 bomber during a flying course at Manby, 28 November 1959

Name WRIGHT, William Andrew
Number 1122597
Rank Sergeant Pilot
Nationality British
Born Bradford, Yorkshire, 2 February 1921
Arrived 27 March 1942
Departed 10 June 1942
Notes Shot down, WIA & crash-landed on Isle of Wight, hospitalised, 10 June 1942; commissioned January 1943; retired February 1964

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