LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Colin James CORLEY
Service No: 404065
Born: Gympie QLD, 20 June 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 29 April 1940
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 148 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8724), Fuka, 14 September 1941, Aged 26 Years
Buried: El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Patrick and Annie Marie Corley, of Toowong, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2230 hours on 14 September 1941 Wellington Z8724 took off from Fuka to attack Benghazi, Libya. On take-off, the aircraft hit a dispersal pen and crashed 600 yards from the aerodrome. Five crew members were killed and one fatally injured.
The crew members of Z8724 were:
Sergeant Clarence Ernest Bloor (928602) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Sidney Anthony Cameron (110651) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Colin James Corley (404065) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Frederick Edward Gunther (1377173) (RAFVR) Fatally injured, Died: 16 September 1941
Sergeant Lewis William Jenkins McCabe (998680) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Verdun Victor Skerman (404057) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/98/314
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002