LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alexander Jennings WILLIS
Service No: 401873
Born: Corowa NSW, 9 August 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 3 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 3 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FL325), Libya, 22 January 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Tripoli War Cemetery, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alexander Hamilton Willis and Gladys Willis, of Balldale, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0855 hours on 22 January 1943, Kittyhawk FL325 flown by Flight Sergeant Willis took off as one of a formation of 12 aircraft detailed to bomb and strafe Ben Garden landing ground and the main Tripoli road. At 0925 hours, Flight Sergeant Willis’ aircraft collided with Sergeant Gordon Roy Jones’ (402938) (Discharged: 27 August 1945) aircraft, severely damaging the rudder and ailerons of Jones’ aircraft, with the propeller and main plane of FL325. Jones was able to fly his aircraft back to base, but FL325 spun in and burned when it hit the ground.
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, 166/43/48
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002