William Thomas Rees was born in 1920, son of John George and Hannah Elizabeth Rees. He was married to Margaret Alma Rees, and lived in Blaengarw.

William became a wireless operator/air gunner with 49 squadron. He and his crew had just arrived at the squadron and were posted to the squadron's B flight. The crew consisted of:

Pilot P/O G.L. Ratcliffe
Flight Engineer Sgt A.E. Marsland
Navigator Sgt E. Holloway
Wireless Operator Sgt W.T. Rees
Air Gunner F/S R. Losa RCAF
Bomb Aimer Sgt W.R. Day and
Air Gunner F/S B.J.V. King from Australia.

49 Sqn RAF

On 16 December 1943 the crew would fly their first operational mission, which was to Berlin. The crew took off in Lancaster JB545 EA-O for Oboe. En route to target, the Lancaster was intercepted by Oblt. Schnaufer who shot it down over the province of Gronigen. He would shoot down four Allied bombers this night in a 40 minute time span.

People in the town of Sonnega heard the bomber come over from west to east, then it turned around, flying back. The plane circled the skies of Sonnega for about twenty minutes before it crashed. The locals always wondered why the crew never jumped from their stricken plane. The whole crew was killed in the crash and buried in nearby Wolvega.

Sgt William Rees is buried in Wolvega General Cemetery, Plot 16. Row 1. Joint grave 13.

(picture by Wim Bastiaanse)

Wolvega, The Netherlands

See also:
P/O Gordon Ratcliffe
Sgt Edward Holloway
Sgt Wilfred Day
Sgt Albert Marsland
Sgt Ricardo Losa
F/S Bede King

Sources:
John Ward and Ted Cachart, Beware Of The Dog At War, JoTe Publications, Delper, Derbyshire, 1997
Ab Jansen, Wespennest Leeuwarden, Baarn 1976

Acknowledgements:
RAF Squadron crest © Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

Directions to Wolvega General Cemetery

Posted 21 September 2005

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This website is dedicated to the men and women who died and/or are buried in The Netherlands during World War II.

 

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