LEST WE FORGET
Corporal William Henry BLAKELEY
Service No: 26160
Born: Adelaide SA, 15 October 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 April 1940
Unit: No. 456 Squadron, RAF Colerne, Wiltshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 456 Squadron Mosquito aircraft DZ 690), Wiltshire, 29 September 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery, Somerset
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Newsome Blakeley and Ann Agatha Blakeley, of Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia, husband of Jessie Blakeley, of Halifax, England.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 29 September 1943, Mosquito DE600 was being air tested when it crashed at Colerne airfield in the UK at 0643 hours. Both the crew members were killed. The aircraft went into a violent spin causing the starboard engine and tubular engine mounting structure to be completely tom away from the aircraft when at a height of about 1,000 feet.
The crew members were:
Corporal William Henry Blakeley (26160) (Fitter IIA)
Flight Lieutenant Ernest Hamilton Griffith (403334) (Pilot)
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 A705, 166/5/303
Bibliography:
Bennett, J. (John William) Fighter Nights: 456 Squadron RAAF, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2617, 1995
Vincent, D. (David) Mosquito Monograph: A history of Mosquitoes in Australia and RAAF operations, David Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1982