LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Llewellyn WETTENHALL
Service No: 400109
Born: Malvern VIC, 28 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 May 1940
Unit: No. 79 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 79 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-145), off New Britain, 31 December 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander and Doris Wettenhall; husband of Patricia Margaret Wettenhall, of South Yarra, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 34, Rabaul Memorial PNG
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 31 December 1943, Flight Lieutenant Wettenhall flying Spitfire A58-145 as Yellow 1 went missing while on an offensive patrol near New Britain. After crossing the coast, the Kittyhawk formation entered increasingly heavy cloud and Yellow 3 – Flying Officer William Jasper Pickard (411822) (Discharged: 17 October 1945) – attempted to contact Yellow 1 but from the radio communication it became clear that Yellow 1 was not receiving. Contact was lost and Flight Lieutenant Wettenhall was not seen again.
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 A9845, 121; A9300, WETTENHALL L