The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (402898) Sergeant Thomas Colin Wills, 60 Operational Training RAF, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Chirs Widenbar, the story for this day was on (402898) Sergeant Thomas Colin Wills, 60 Operational Training RAF, Second World War.

402898 Sergeant Thomas Colin Wills, 60 Operational Training RAF
Flying accident 8 March 1942

Today we remember and pay tribute to Sergeant Thomas Colin Wills.

Thomas Wills was born on 3 February 1912 in Orange, New South Wales, the son of Alfred and Olive Wills. He had a brother, John, and a sister, Ruth.
After attending North Sydney Boys’ High School, Thomas Wills studied accountancy at the Metropolitan Business College.

Wills enjoyed football, sailing, golf, and swimming, and lived with his family at Manly while working as a senior costing clerk at Tooth and Co. The company was a major beer brewer in New South Wales, and had large brewery on Broadway in Sydney. Wills had been with the company for some time, having previously worked as a junior clerk, and as secretary to the advertising manager.

He also had experience in the Militia, having spent time active with the 5th Heavy Brigade.

In November 1940, at the age of 28, Thomas Wills enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. After some early training at Narrandera, on the 21st of March 1941 he embarked at Sydney for overseas service.

As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Wills was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who, throughout the course of the war, joined squadrons based in Britain.

Wills trained as a pilot in Calgary, Canada, and on 27 July 1941 was awarded his flying badge and promoted to sergeant.

At the end of August, he embarked for England. In December he was allocated to an operational training unit at RAF Thornaby in North Yorkshire. Here crews trained to join Coastal Command, which was vital in protecting convoys and shipping from the German U-boat force and the Luftwaffe.

On 8 March 1942, Sergeant Wills was the pilot of a Hudson aircraft undertaking a practice night flight over the sea. The aircraft took off just after 8 pm, and was not heard from again.

Five air and sea rescue aircraft were sent out at daylight, but the search proved fruitless. Sergeant Thomas Wills, Sergeant I.S. Woolf, Sergeant P.C. Bucknell, and Sergeant D.M. Hall were all presumed dead.

Thomas Wills was 30 years old.

Today, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, sometimes known as the Air Forces Memorial, which commemorates more than 20,000 airmen and women who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe and who have no known grave.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sergeant Thomas Colin Wills, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section