LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Brian Albert WILLIS
Service No: 402269
Born: Chatswood NSW, 24 August 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 July 1940
Unit: No. 108 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 108 Squadron Wellington aircraft AD599), Libya, 23 February 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Darcy John and Dulce Jean Willis, of Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: St Stephen’s Church Book Of Remembrance, Willoughby NSW
On the night of 23/24th February 1942 Wellington AD599 took off detailed to bomb the Martuba aerodrome. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Other crews on the same mission saw an aircraft catch fire and explode on striking the ground in the vicinity of Derna. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported “the graves of the missing crew were located near Sahel-el-Emeilst near Derna. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of AD599 were:
Flight Sergeant Jack Bradbury (1160093) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Patrick Russell Cooper (649058) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick Coulson (1051981) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Cecil Montrose Gray (401436) (RNZAF) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer II Norman Stanley Hall (R/60213) (RCAF) (Observer)
Flying Officer Brian Albert Willis (402269) (Pilot)
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, 163/64/138