[Pic: P Humphries]
Plt Off S L Whillis
Flight engineer
Lancaster serial number: ED927/G
Call sign: AJ-E
Second wave. Crashed on outward flight.
Samuel Leslie Whillis was born in Newcastle on Tyne in 1912. He joined the RAF shortly after the outbreak of war, and served as ground crew until 1942, when he took the opportunity to train as a flight engineer, at the No 4 School of Technical Training at St Athans in Wales. Having qualified, he was then posted to 1654 Conversion Flight, where it is likely that he first met Norman Barlow, They were both posted to 61 Squadron, and Whillis soon became his regular flight engineer. They were joined by Alan Gillespie as bomb aimer.
By March 1943 Whillis had completed 22 operations, slightly fewer than his skipper, so when he was offered the chance to move to a new squadron with Barlow, he must have thought that it was a good opportunity to complete his tour with a captain he worked well with.
Two days before the raid, both Whillis and Gillespie received commissions, backdated to April 1943. At this stage of the war, commissioned flight engineers were rare. so Whillis had obviously impressed his superiors.
Not much more than two hours after take off, Whillis and the rest of his ex-61 Squadron comrades crossed the Rhine, and then hit a pylon and crashed, killing all on board. Their bodies were taken to Dusseldorf North Cemtetery, and reburied after the war in Reichswald Commonwealth War Cemetery.
Whillis’s wife Gladys kept his medals, the letter from Gibson concerning his loss and various other mementoes. This collection is now on display in the Bygones gallery in Torquay.
[Pic: Bygones]
More about Whillis online:
Entry at Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Entry at Aircrew Remembered website
Auction of Whillis medals, 2000
KIA 16.05.43
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.
Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
Eric Fry, An Airman Far Away, Kangaroo Press 1993
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed above, and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.
