Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) Officers 1939-1945 -- W

Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) (RAF(VR)) Officers
1939-1945

Looking for details on a RAF(VR) officer not listed here yet?
Just e-mail me, and I might be able to help out.
Of course, any additions, corrections etc. can also be e-mailed.

For detailed biographies of key RAF personnel (Air Commodore and higher) there is already an excellent website: www.rafweb.org
Only RAF officers of ranks below Air Commodore will be shown here.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

W
top

Wagland,
James Leslie William
"Waggy"
J.L.W. Wagland
Married (04.1945) Molly Cleevely (died 1999); one son, one daughter.

04.11.1913
West Ham, London
-
02.04.2005

P/O (prob)
16.06.1940 [81937]

P/O
16.06.1941

(WS) F/O
16.06.1941

(A) F/Lt.
?

(WS) F/Lt.
16.06.1942

(A) Sq.Ldr.
?

DFC
22.08.1941
?

DFC
19.10.1943
*

MID
24.09.1941
?

MID
01.01.1946
?

VK
09.10.1945
? [date of Dutch Royal Decree: 03.07.1945]

* This officer has undertaken a large number of sorties and his navigational ability throughout has been outstanding. On 2 occasions in September, Squadron Leader Wagland participated in sorties which demanded skill and determination of a high order. In addition to his good work in the air, Squadron Leader Wagland has rendered excellent service in the training of other members of aircraft crew.

summer 1939

volunteered for the RAFVR

16.06.1940

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch (Air Observers)

08.1940
- 1942?
78 Squadron RAF (Ditchford, Yorks.)

1942?
-
11.1942
HQ RAF Bomber Command

11.1942
-
1945
navigation staff (soon to be: senior navigator) at RAF Tempsford, the home of the special duties squadrons flying clandestine operations for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) into Occupied Europe

?
-
04.11.1958
Emergency List - RAFVR

Walker,
George William James
G.W.J. Walker
Son of ... Walker, and ... Collins.
08.07.1914
Warwick district, Warwickshire
-
02.1993
Cheltenham district, Gloucestershire

Sgt.
? [852023]

P/O (prob)
01.05.1945 [197282]

P/O
04.11.1945

(WS) F/O
04.11.1945

F/O RAF
29.01.1948, seniority 04.05.1947

F/Lt. RAF
19.06.1952

Sq.Ldr. RAF (Supplementary List)
01.01.1963 (retd 08.07.1969)

MBE
31.12.1960
New Year 61

01.05.1945

first commission RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

served as a pathfinder

1946
-
1948
at RAF Binbrook

29.01.1948

transferred, RAF (Secretarial Branch) [short service commission]

01.1949
-
(09.1950)
sent to Aden

10.06.1952

permanent commission RAF (Secretarial Branch)

Warming,
Christian Stuart
C.S. Warming
Son of Sophus and Fanny Heath Warming, of Reigate, Surrey.
1912 ?
-
10.06.1944
North Sea
(KIA) [age 32]
[Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, 22.D.9]

Sgt.
? [1582915]

P/O (prob)
25.05.1944 [179198]

25.04.1944

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

?
-
10.06.1944
navigator, 219 Squadron RAF (RAF Bradwell Bay)
[crashed with his plane, a Mosquito NF.XVII [HK358] during a defensive patrol over the Channel]

Warren,
Robert Douglas
R.D. Warren
Son of George and Louise Warren, of Slough; husband of Aline Jeannette Warren, of Slough.
1921 ?
-
15.05.1944
[age 23]
[Slough (Stoke Road) Cemetery, Church of England plot, joint grave 2083]

Ldg.Acm.
? [1285527]

P/O (prob)
23.08.1943 [147941]

P/O
23.02.1944

(WS) F/O
23.02.1944

23.08.1943

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

?
-
15.05.1944
pilot, 96 Squadron RAF

Watson,
James
J. Watson
Son of James and Rebecca Watson, of West Linton, Peebleshire.
1921 ?
-
16.04.1945
(KIA) [age 24]
[Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland, collective grave 5.B.1-5]

F/Sgt.
? [1021021]

P/O (prob)
31.01.1944 [174282]

(WS) F/O
01.1945?

31.01.1944

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch [emergency commission]

?

-

16.04.1945

air gunner, 617 Squadron RAF
[his Lancaster I [NG228 KC-V] took off at 1349 hrs from Woodhill Spa for an operation against Swinemünde, armed with 12 x 1,000 lb bombs to attack the pcoket battleship Lützow; it was hit by Flak and the port wing came off before spinning into a wooded region of the target area]

Waugh,
James
J. Waugh ?
-

Ldg.Acm.
? [1558375]

P/O (prob) (emgcy)
11.09.1943 [155041]

F/O
19.05.1947

F/Lt.
01.03.1951, seniority 16.12.1949 (reld 19.05.1952)

11.09.1943

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch

Webster,
Sedgwick Whiteley
S.W. Webster
Of American descent, living in London (self-declared British subject to join the RAFVR). Unmarried (at the time).
28.10.1904
South Africa
-
03.1980
Litchfield, Connecticut, USA

(A) P/O (prob)
09.03.1940 [77955]

P/O (prob)
22.04.1940

P/O
09.03.1941

(WS) F/O
22.04.1941

F/Lt.
22.04.1942 (resigned commission 20.12.1945)

09.03.1940

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch [emergency commission]

03.1940
-
11.05.1940
204 Squadron Training Unit

12.05.1940
-
06.06.1940
Air Gunner, 9 Squadron RAF (Honington, UK)
[his aircraft, a Wellington IA (P9232 WS-M), was hit by Flak on an operation to Duisburg after crossing the Dutch coast; the plane crashed near Simonshaven (near Geervliet, province Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands) and he was taken POW on his seventh mission]

06.06.1940
06.07.1940
06.11.1940
07.06.1941
20.04.1942
27.01.1945
29.04.1945
-
-
-
-
-
-

29.04.1945
06.11.1940
07.06.1941
20.04.1942
27.01.1945
07.02.1945

POW in German captivity [POW No. 2253]
Dulag Luft
Stalag 12A, Limberg, Germany
Stalag 2C, Greifswald, Germany
Stalag Luft 3 (South Compound), Sagan, Germany
Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Germany
liberated by General Patton

Worked for Dorland's ad agency after the war (probably in New York) and was very likely with them in London before it.

Wells,
Patrick Hardy Vesey
"Pat" / "Cockeye"
P.H.V. Wells
Son of Eric Francis Vesey Wells (1885-1933), and Marjorie Louise Gregory (died 1958).
Married (late 1940s, Kenya) Jessie Theresa Coster; one son, one daughter.

16.03.1917
Johannesburg, South Africa
-
03.04.2002
Constantia, South Africa

P/O
15.02.1938 [72098]

F/O
11.04.1940

(WS) F/Lt.
02.06.1941

(T) Sq.Ldr.
01.07.1943

Sq.Ldr.
? (reld 06.07.1950; retaining rank of Sq.Ldr.)

DSO
23.05.1944
?

MID
08.06.1944
?

Education: Bedford School; studied Mining Enigneering, London Univeristy

15.02.1938

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch

late 1939

training, RAF Cranwell

1939
-
1940
No 5 Operational Training Unit (Aston Down)

06.1940

pilot, 249 Squadron RAF (Church Fenton) (wounded 07.09.1940)

pilot, 73 Squadron RAF

(1944)

pilot, 255 Squadron RAF

Aircraft salesman, Southern Africa.

Wilkinson,
Jeffrey Stephen
J. Waugh ?
-
08.2007
Fairfield, Buxton ?

P/O (prob)
01.05.1939 [31299]

P/O
23.01.1940

(T) F/O
01.05.1940

(T) F/Lt.
01.06.1941 (reld 24.10.1942)

P/O
24.10.1942

(WS) F/O
24.04.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
24.10.1944

F/O
20.02.1947

F/Lt.
06.09.1950 (reld 06.09.1957)

DFC
15.09.1944
?

Education: BSc

01.05.1939

first commission RAFVR (Equipment Branch)

24.10.1942

relinquished rank of F/Lt. at own request and transferred to General Duties Branch in rank of P/O

23.01.1943
-
20.02.1947
transferred, Reserve of Air Force Officers (General Duties Branch) (and clled up for air force service)

(1944)

53 Squadron RAF

20.02.1947
-
06.09.1950
commissioned, Reconstituted RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

06.09.1950

commissioned, RAF (Education Branch) [short service commission]

06.09.1953
-
06.09.1957
transferred, Reserve of Air Force Officers (and called up for air force service till 06.03.1954)

Williams,
Douglas Knight
D.K. Williams
Son of Thomas Latimer Williams and Margaret Rose Williams, of Crynant, Glamorgan.
1922 ?
-
05.07.1944
(KIA) [age 22]
[Runnymede Memorial, panel 210]

Sgt.
? [1315946]

P/O (prob)
14.08.1943 [155999]

P/O
14.02.1944

(WS) F/O
14.02.1944

DFC
10.12.1943
?

14.08.1943

first commission RAFVR - General Duties Branch [emergency commission]

(1943)

navigator, 76 Squadron RAF

?
-
05.07.1944
navigator, 105 Squadron RAF
[his Mosquito IX ML913 GB-E had taken off 23.39 hrs (5 July) for an operation against Scholven-Buer; his aircraft, flown by F/Lt. G.K. Whiffen, was lost without a trace]

Published: (ed. Mary M. Hill) The making of a Pathfinder : World War II letters from a Navigator F/O Douglas Knight Williams, DFC (1992)

Wilson,
Sir Arnold Talbot
A.T. Wilson
Son of the late Rev. Canon James Maurice Wilson, DD, MA, and Georgina Mary Wilson.
Married (1922) Rose, widow of Lieut Robin C. Carver, RAF, and daughter
of late C.H. Ashton of Ellesmere; one son, one daughter.
Residence: Saffron Walden, Essex.
18.07.1884
-
31.05.1940
(KIA) [age 56]
[Eringhem Churchyard, France, row 1, grave 2]

Army:

Cadet
?

2nd Lt.
19.08.1903

Lt.
19.11.1905

Capt.
19.08.1912

Maj.
03.06.1918 (retd 19.08.1921)

Bt. Lt.Col.
03.06.1918

RAF(VR):

(A) P/O (prob)
04.11.1939 [75684]

P/O (prob)
11.12.1939

KCIE
30.12.1919

valuable services rendered in Mesopotamia in connection with the War

CSI
03.06.1919
HM's birthday 19

CMG
14.06.1912
?

CIE
25.08.1917
?

DSO
17.04.1916
?

Education: Clifton College; Royal Military College, Sandhurst (King's medal and Sword of Honour)

19.08.1903

commissioned, Unattached List

18.12.1904

transferred to the Indian Army

1904

32nd Sikh Pioneers

1909
-
1913
seconded to the Indian Political Department, on duty in Persia (British Consul at Mohammerah, 1909-1911 (MacGregor Memorial Medal, 1912); special duty, Luristan and Fars, 1911-1912; 2nd Assistant, Bushire, 1912-1913; special duty Luristan, 1913)

20.11.1913
-
1914
Deputy British Commissioner, TurcoPersian Frontier Commission (British Commissioner, July 1914)

1915

Deputy Chief Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force "D"

1916

Deputy Civil Commissioner

03.1918
-
10.1920
Acting Civil Commissioner and Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Baghdad)

1921
-
1939
civil occupations (with AngloPersian Oil Co. Ltd, 1921-1932; Chairman Industrial Health Research Board, 1926-1933; Chairman International Exhibition of Persian Art, 1930; Chairman B. of T. Advisory Committee on Cinema Films, 1934-1938; Chairman, Home Office Committee on Structural Precautions against Air Attack, 1936-1938; Member Departmental Committee on Cinema Films Act, 1937; Richard Burton Memorial Medallist, 1937. Editor XIX Century and After, 1934-1938)

1933
-
1940
MP (Nat. C.) Hitchin (Herts) Division

04.11.1939

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties (Air Gunner))

?
-
31.05.1940
37 Squadron RAF (Feltwell, UK)
[his aircraft, a Wellington IC (L7791 LF-), crashed on an operation against Nieuwpoort]

Knight of Grace, Order of St John of Jerusalem, 02.12.1919; Justice of the Peace (JP); late Indian Political Department.
Published: The Persian Gulf, 1928; A Bibliography of Persia, 1930; Loyalties: Mesopotamia, 1914-1917, 1930; Mesopotamia, 1917-1920; A Clash of Loyalties, 1931; Persia (Modern World Series), 1932; The Suez Canal, 1933, 2nd ed. 1939; Walks and Talks, 1934; Walks and Talks Abroad, 1935, 3rd ed. 1939; Industrial Assurance, 1937; Burial Reform and Funeral Costs, 1938; Thoughts and Talks, 1938; Workmen's Compensation, 1938; More Thoughts and Talks, 1939; Gallantry: its recognition in Military and Civil Life, 1939; SouthWest Persia, a Political Officer's Diary, 1907-1914, 1940

Wilson,
Charles Thomas
C.T. Wilson
Son of Charles Thomas Wilson and Alice Maude Wilson, of Kingsbury, Middlesex.
Husband of Katherine Wilson, of Osgodby, Lincolnshire.
(06?).1911
Kingsbury, Middlesex
-
29.01.1944
[age 33]
[Runnymede Memorial, panel 204]

Ldg.Acm.
? [1331591]

P/O (prob)
25.09.1942 [130614]

(WS) F/O (prob)
25.03.1943

(A) F/Lt.
?

DFC
11.02.1944
? [posthumously]

25.09.1942

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

?
-
29.01.1944
pilot, 97 Squadron RAF
[flew at "Black Thursday" (16/17.12.1943) in Lancaster JB312]
[flew 29.01.1944 an operation against Berlin, taking off from RAF Bourn at 0035 hrs in Lancaster III JB353 OF-L; the aircraft was lost without trace]

Wilson,
Frederick John
F.J. Wilson
Son of Frederick John and Florence Emily Wilson; husband of Eileen Elsie Wilson, of Sevenoaks, Kent.
(09?).1902
Milton, Kent
-
01.02.1942
[age 40]
[Saint Andrew Churchyard
Cranwell, Lincolnshire, 3.B.4]

T/Warrant Offr.
? [247538]

P/O (prob)
06.01.1942 [47867]

AFM
?

pilot

Wood,
Erroll Eveleigh
E.E. Wood
18.01.1920
Doncaster, Yorkshire
-

Ldg.Acm.
? [814235]

P/O (prob)
11.06.1943 [152481]

(WS) F/O (prob)
11.12.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
11.06.1945 (reld 16.04.1948; retaining rank of F/Lt.)

F/O
16.04.1948 (reld 19.11.1951)

11.06.1943

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

16.04.1948

appointed to Reconstituted RAFVR

19.11.1951

appointed to Royal Australian Air Force General Reserve

Woodcock,
Wallace George
W.G. Woodcock
Son of Harry Woodcock, and Maud A. Ainge.
Married (02.06.1945, St Giles Parish Church, Sheldon) Phyllis M.F. Eades (born 1918); one son, two daughters.
13.03.1917
Small Heath, Birmingham, Aston district, Warwickshire
-
22.05.1994
University Hospital, Tampa, Florida, USA

F/Sgt.
? [1181290]

P/O (prob)
01.04.1943 [147362]

(WS) F/O (prob)
12.10.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
12.04.1945 (reld 11.05.1949)

01.04.1943

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

served 235 Squadron RAF (Coastal Command) (mainly flying reconnaissance De Havilland Mosquito Mk IVs)

(12.1944)

pilot, 248 Squadron RAF (flying Mosquitoes)

Emigrated to the Philadelphia area (USA), in 1950. He was a linotype printer, retiring from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Woods,
Eric Norman
E.N. Woods
Son of William H. Woods, and of Kate Dora Woods, of Harborne, Birmingham.

08.05.1910
Buenos Aires, Argentina
-
16.12.1943
(MIA) [age 33]
[Malta Memorial, panel 6, column 1]

Ldg.Acm.
? [925682]

P/O (prob)
18.01.1941, seniority 14.01.1941 [60119]

P/O
18.01.1942

(WS) F/O
18.01.1942, seniority 14.01.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
25.11.1942

(A) Sq.Ldr.
?

(A) W/Cdr.
?

DFC
14.07.1942
?

DFC
03.11.1942
?

for details see "biography" buttons on the left

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z