LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer William Charles LEAHY
Service No: 421683
Born: Strathfield NSW, 15 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 February 1920
Unit: No. 79 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 79 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-489), Halmaheras, 22 September 1945, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Jeremiah and Mary Elizabeth Leahy, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Strathfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 22 September 1945, Spitfire A58-489 flown by Warrant Officer Leahy took off from Pitoe airstrip at Morotai together with five other aircraft. Owing to the failure of the Leader’s radio, Warrant Officer Leahy took the lead and flew very low over the Galela Lake Meer, Halmaheras. It appeared that Warrant Officer Leahy misjudged the height above the lake and at 0930 hours his aircraft flew into the water and broke up. His body was recovered by the Japanese and returned to Morotai for burial.
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, 166/24/945