LEST WE FORGET

Flight Lieutenant Paul Edward WILLOUGHBY

Service No: 416816
Born: Adelaide SA, 2 September 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 September 1941
Unit: No. 20 Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 12 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Blenheim aircraft 512), Lincolnshire, 8 September 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Edward and Ida Constance Willoughby; husband of Muriel Eveleen Willoughby, of North Unley, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unley 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

On 8 September 1944, Blenheim 512 took off on a non-operational day flight, when it crashed at Spitalgate near Grantham, Lincolnshire. The crew of two was killed. The Pilot under training was being tested by a member of No 20 FIS visiting Flight from RAF Station Montrose. The aircraft appeared to be making a glide approach when it took overshoot action. The starboard engine apparently failed to pick up, and the aircraft struck a house on the aerodrome boundary.

The crew members of 512 were:

Flight Sergeant Noel Whitmarsh Hawkins (416815) (RNZAF) (Pilot under instruction)
Flight Lieutenant Paul Edward Willoughby (416816) (Instructor 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/849

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