RAF Service number 37437
Handley Page Halifax II / W1058 / ZA-S
10 Squadron
Pilot
Take Off Station Melbourne
Night Raid Operation Cologne.
Richard (Dick) Wildey became OC 10 Squadron after Wg Cdr Don Bennett vacated the command to form the Pathfinders unit in August 1942. He was only the second Officer Commanding No 10 Squadron to be killed in action to date: the first being Major George Bernard Ward, MC & bar, who commanded the Squadron from December 1916 until September 1917.
Sadly Dick Wildey’s posting to 10 Squadron was to end abruptly on just his third mission in mid-October 1942 when he was killed in action whilst flying a 10 Sqn Halifax Mk ll, W1058 (ZA-S) on a raid involving 8 crews from the Squadron to Cologne on the night of 15/16 October 1942. He was buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery, 50 miles north of Cologne. October 1942 was a month of heavy losses on the Squadron.
Operations:
289 aircraft, 18 losses (6.2%). PFF had difficulty in identifying the target and as a result were unable to draw the main force from a decoy fire. Believed to have crashed shortly after reaching the target at Duisdorf in the suburbs of Bonn.
CO of 10 Squadron who won his DFC with 78 Squadron. His medals, log book and papers are on display at his old school, Emmanuel, in Battersea.
Son of Harold W. Wildey and Lottie Wildey. Husband of Eileen Marjorie Wildey, of Ewell, Surrey.
Handley Page Halifax II / W1058 / ZA-S
10 Squadron
Pilot
Take Off Station Melbourne
Night Raid Operation Cologne.
Richard (Dick) Wildey became OC 10 Squadron after Wg Cdr Don Bennett vacated the command to form the Pathfinders unit in August 1942. He was only the second Officer Commanding No 10 Squadron to be killed in action to date: the first being Major George Bernard Ward, MC & bar, who commanded the Squadron from December 1916 until September 1917.
Sadly Dick Wildey’s posting to 10 Squadron was to end abruptly on just his third mission in mid-October 1942 when he was killed in action whilst flying a 10 Sqn Halifax Mk ll, W1058 (ZA-S) on a raid involving 8 crews from the Squadron to Cologne on the night of 15/16 October 1942. He was buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery, 50 miles north of Cologne. October 1942 was a month of heavy losses on the Squadron.
Operations:
289 aircraft, 18 losses (6.2%). PFF had difficulty in identifying the target and as a result were unable to draw the main force from a decoy fire. Believed to have crashed shortly after reaching the target at Duisdorf in the suburbs of Bonn.
CO of 10 Squadron who won his DFC with 78 Squadron. His medals, log book and papers are on display at his old school, Emmanuel, in Battersea.
Son of Harold W. Wildey and Lottie Wildey. Husband of Eileen Marjorie Wildey, of Ewell, Surrey.
RAF Service number 37437
Handley Page Halifax II / W1058 / ZA-S
10 Squadron
Pilot
Take Off Station Melbourne
Night Raid Operation Cologne.
Richard (Dick) Wildey became OC 10 Squadron after Wg Cdr Don Bennett vacated the command to form the Pathfinders unit in August 1942. He was only the second Officer Commanding No 10 Squadron to be killed in action to date: the first being Major George Bernard Ward, MC & bar, who commanded the Squadron from December 1916 until September 1917.
Sadly Dick Wildey’s posting to 10 Squadron was to end abruptly on just his third mission in mid-October 1942 when he was killed in action whilst flying a 10 Sqn Halifax Mk ll, W1058 (ZA-S) on a raid involving 8 crews from the Squadron to Cologne on the night of 15/16 October 1942. He was buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery, 50 miles north of Cologne. October 1942 was a month of heavy losses on the Squadron.
Operations:
289 aircraft, 18 losses (6.2%). PFF had difficulty in identifying the target and as a result were unable to draw the main force from a decoy fire. Believed to have crashed shortly after reaching the target at Duisdorf in the suburbs of Bonn.
CO of 10 Squadron who won his DFC with 78 Squadron. His medals, log book and papers are on display at his old school, Emmanuel, in Battersea.
Son of Harold W. Wildey and Lottie Wildey. Husband of Eileen Marjorie Wildey, of Ewell, Surrey.
Handley Page Halifax II / W1058 / ZA-S
10 Squadron
Pilot
Take Off Station Melbourne
Night Raid Operation Cologne.
Richard (Dick) Wildey became OC 10 Squadron after Wg Cdr Don Bennett vacated the command to form the Pathfinders unit in August 1942. He was only the second Officer Commanding No 10 Squadron to be killed in action to date: the first being Major George Bernard Ward, MC & bar, who commanded the Squadron from December 1916 until September 1917.
Sadly Dick Wildey’s posting to 10 Squadron was to end abruptly on just his third mission in mid-October 1942 when he was killed in action whilst flying a 10 Sqn Halifax Mk ll, W1058 (ZA-S) on a raid involving 8 crews from the Squadron to Cologne on the night of 15/16 October 1942. He was buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery, 50 miles north of Cologne. October 1942 was a month of heavy losses on the Squadron.
Operations:
289 aircraft, 18 losses (6.2%). PFF had difficulty in identifying the target and as a result were unable to draw the main force from a decoy fire. Believed to have crashed shortly after reaching the target at Duisdorf in the suburbs of Bonn.
CO of 10 Squadron who won his DFC with 78 Squadron. His medals, log book and papers are on display at his old school, Emmanuel, in Battersea.
Son of Harold W. Wildey and Lottie Wildey. Husband of Eileen Marjorie Wildey, of Ewell, Surrey.
Inscription
IN LOVING MEMORY. THE WOUND IS DEEP IT WILL NOT HEAL; FORGET YOU, DICK, I NEVER WILL
Gravesite Details
37437
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