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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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486 Squadron Crest
13.03.1944 No. 486 Squadron Typhoon Ib JR146 SA-M W/O. Williams

Operation: Cine gun exercise

Date: 13th March 1944 (Monday)

Unit: No. 486 Squadron (New Zealand Air Force) 83 Group

Type: Typhoon Ib

Serial: JR146

Code: SA-M

Base: RAF Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire

Location: South of Downham Market, Norfolk

Pilot: W/O. Harry Keith Williams NZ/414721 RNZAF Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Castle Camps in Cambridgeshire with one other at 13:50 hrs. After just 30 minutes W/O. Williams called that he was going to make a precautionary landing at RAF Downham Market as he was experiencing engine problems.

On his first approach at Downham Market he noticed workman on the runway so carried out an overshoot. However, the engine then failed as he circuited of a second approach. The aircraft crashed through trees as it force landed in fields some 3 miles south of the airfield. The pilot suffered severe burns and was admitted to the RAF hospital at Ely. Sadly he died from his injuries the following morning.

Burial details:

W/O. Harry Keith Williams. Cambridge City Cemetery. Grave 13536. Son of Henry Daniel Williams and of Muriel Williams (née Lowrey) of Morrinsville, Auckland, New Zealand. Trained at at No. 6 Service Flying Training School, Dunnville, Ontario, Canada. 545 flying hours logged - 20 hours on the Typhoon. His father, Henry Williams served as an observer and later as a pilot during the first World War in the RFC.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Cenotaph, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY - 28.08.2017

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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