Studio portrait of 423870 Aircraftman (later Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt)) William Paul, 467 ...

Accession Number P03658.001
Collection type Photograph
Object type Print
Maker Unknown
Date made c 1942
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Studio portrait of 423870 Aircraftman (later Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt)) William Paul, 467 Squadron RAAF, of South Grafton, NSW. Flt Sgt Paul was killed on operation on 16 July 1944, aged 20 years, and is buried at Lignieres-de-Touraine Communal Cemetery, France. He was killed when two Lancaster aircraft crashed after one had been hit by flak and gone out of control. Fifteen airmen died in this crash and the people of the town of Azay-le-Rideau requested permission for them to hold a service for these men, after which they were buried in the local cemetery. When the war ended the townspeople requested that the bodies of the airmen remain there, rather than being reinterred in a military cemetery; they undertook to look after the graves and hold a memorial service annually.

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