LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William Edward LOCKLEY
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 41436 (RAF)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 233 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 233 Squadron Hudson I aircraft N7227), Fife, 10 October 1939, Age unavailable
Buried: Leuchars Cemetery, Fifeshire
CWGC Additional Information: No further information
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Remembered: Manly ANZAC War Memorial, Manly NSW
Hudson N7227 was flying very low as the visibility was poor with a low cloud base and it struck high ground at 1940 hours to the south of Freuchie, Fife, when returning from patrol. Fire broke out immediately and the wreckage was distributed over a large area. The crew of four were killed instantly.
The crew members of N7227 were:
Aircraftman Class I Basil Norman Blades (550711) (RAF) (Wireless Operator)
Flying Officer Charles Hampton Clark (39272) (RAF) (Pilot) (from New Zealand)
Aircraftman Class II William McKelvie Cochrane (RAF) (620399)
Pilot Officer William Edward Lockley (41436) (RAF) (Second Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
McNeill, Ross RAF Coastal Command Loses of the Second World War Volume 1 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1939-1941, Midland Publications UK, 2003
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line