LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John Desmond WALLIS
Service No: 408541
Born: Black Rock VIC, 23 November 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941
Unit: No. 451 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 451 Squadron Spitfire aircraft SM333), Belgium, 14 January 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Oostende New Communal Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Doris Maud Wallis, of Bayswater, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: St Kilda VIC
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On air operations on 14 January 1945, Spitfire SM333 flown by Flight Lieutenant Wallis was involved in a mid-air collision in cloud and crashed at 1143 hours, at Rue des Alouettes, Ostende,
Belgium. The Squadron was proceeding to a forward base prior to an operational sweep and was flying through bad weather and cloud. SM3334 was leading its section of four aircraft, when his No. 2 saw a fifth aircraft flown by Pilot Officer Edward Raymond Newberry (421753) (Discharged: 16 April 1946) climbing from below and it rammed into SM333 completely removing the tail of the aircraft. Pilot Officer Newberry safely baled out of his aircraft.
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, 166/43/1083
Bibliography:
Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) (408547) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982