LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William Edward MALONEY
Service No: 414715
Born: Clifton QLD, 25 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 80 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed) (following the loss of No. 80 Squadron Tempest aircraft EJ662), Germany, 16 September 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Reichswald War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Maurice Patrick and Gertrude Josephine Maloney, of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Toowoomba QLD
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1025 hours on 16 September 1944, the Squadron was airborne to carry out an armed reconnaissance on ‘Big Ben’ sites and on motor transports north of the line Hague-Arnhem. During
the mission EJ662 was seen with glycol streaming out of the aircraft just west of Arnhem. On the radio the pilot of EJ662 advised that he would have to make a forced landing. The aircraft made a successful forced landing with little apparent damage, and the pilot was safe and was seen to walk away from his aircraft. He was however captured by members of the SA, was maltreated and then shot. In 1946, the circumstances surrounding his death were the subject of a War Crimes Investigation and charges were laid against four persons. They were found guilty of Pilot Officer Maloney’s murder – one was sentenced to be hung, and the other 3 received prison sentences.
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, 166/27/588