LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer George Colin WIGGINS
Service No: 425394
Born: Gatton QLD, 14 March 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 161 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 161 Squadron Stirling aircraft LE236), Bedfordshire, 14 February 1945, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Walter and Margaret McConnell Wiggins, of Gordon Park, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
While flying in poor visibility on a training exercise on 14 February 1945, Stirling LE236 was hit by a Mustang of the 383rd Fighter Squadron flown by First Lieutenant T W Kiley (USAAF) and crashed at Potton. 3 miles east from Sandy, Bedfordshire. All the crew members and First Lieutenant Kiley lost their lives in the accident.
The crew members of LE236 were:
Flight Sergeant Peter Norman Carr (1455177) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant William George Cornish (1176517) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Peter Norman Ellis (1817434) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant Derrick Howard Mayers (3010669) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Cyril William Saunders (423179) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Eric Timperley (146711) (RAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer George Colin Wiggins (425394) (Air Bomber)
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 A166/43/1161