LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Harvey John WIGLEY
Service No: 407854
Born: Glen Osmond SA, 19 October 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1941
Unit: No. 40 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Luqa, Malta
Died: Air Operations (No. 40 Squadron Wellington aircraft HF834), off Sicily, 7 December 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Charles and Margaret Ellen Wigley, of Glen Osmond, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glen Osmond SA
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Wellington HF834 took off from Luqa at 1630 local time on 7 December 1942 to bomb Bizerta. The aircraft failed to return from the mission. Later it was learned that five crew members had been killed and one had become a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of HF834 were:
Flying Officer Angus Douglas Bell (47840) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Gill (1028006) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Abraham Marshall (1040912) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Sidney Heywood (1002588) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Lawrence McDonnell (973705) (RAF) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Harvey John Wigley (407854) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/178/363
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990