J+Willatt

Willatt, John, Sergeant, 1236693, 12th Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Died 29th April 1943 Aged 21 Son of Arthur Willatt and of F E Willatt, of Foremark, Derbyshire Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, Panel 289



Derby Evening Telegraph Report 1st December 1943

The War Office has written to Mrs F. E. Willatt, of 118, Green-lane, Derby, saying that through the International Red Cross Committee they have received official German information that the body of her son, Sergeant-Observer John Willatt (21), R.A.F., was washed ashore on August 15. The letter adds that the German report does not state where Sgt. Willatt’s body was washed ashore, nor does it give the place of burial. Mrs. Willatt heard that her son was missing from air operations last May. An old Derby School boy, Sgt. Willatt’s first operational flight was in a big raid on Berlin as one of the crew of a Lancaster bomber, and the raid from which he did not return was his 24th. He was trained in Rhodesia and returned to England towards the end of last year. Before joining the R.A.F. in 1941, he was employed by Derby Corporation Health Department.
 * AIRMAN’S BODY WASHED ASHORE**

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