LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Mervyn Walter WILLIS
Service No: 421952
Born: Crookwell NSW, 25 August 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 April 1942
Unit: No. 8 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 8 Squadron Beaufort A9-567), Tadji, New Guinea, 24 November 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Richard and Mabel Willis, of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Wagga Wagga NSW
Remembered: Panel 6, Lae Memorial, PNG
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cumnock War Memorial, Cumnock NSW
Remembered: Victory memorial Gardens Cenotaph, Wagga Wagga NSW
Beaufort A9-567 was lost in the vicinity of Tadji while conducting an anti-submarine sweep in the Wewak area. The aircraft last made contact at 0337 hours on 24 November 1944 and its wreckage was observed near Ali Island at 0630 hours at position 03.04S 142.31E. No trace of the crew was found. The crew members of A9-567 were:
Pilot Officer John David Richards (426955) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Donald Vivian Tunbridge (416644) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Campbell Watson (421950) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Mervyn Walter Willis (421952) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A845, 261
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Graham, B. (Burton) and Frank Smyth, A Nation Grew Wings: The Story of the RAAF Beaufort Squadrons in New Guinea, Winterset House Publishers Melbourne VIC, 1946
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990