LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer William Henry LONG
Service No: 419859
Born: Bairnsdale VIC, 7 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 October 1942
Unit: No. 80 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: Last Battles (No. 80 Squadron Tempest aircraft SN138), Germany, 25 March 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest William and Beatrice Ann Long, of Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia; husband of Audrey June Long, of Bairnsdale
Roll of Honour: Bairnsdale VIC
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 25 March 1945 Tempest SN138 was detailed to carry out an armed reconnaissance of the Bocholt-Borken area. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in flames from a height of 1,000 feet and Flying Officer Long was killed.
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, 166/25/290