William Alexander MACKAY

MACKAY, William Alexander

Service Number: 414624
Enlisted: 13 October 1941
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: Royal Australian Air Force
Born: Southport, Queensland, Australia, 8 July 1913
Home Town: Wooroolin, South Burnett, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Hairdresser
Died: Flying Battle, New Guinea, 30 June 1943, aged 29 years
Cemetery: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St Louis, Missouri, USA
Section 84 - Collective grave 403-405 , Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St Louis, United States of America
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour
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World War 2 Service

13 Oct 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman, 414624
13 Oct 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 414624
30 Jun 1943: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 414624, Royal Australian Air Force

William Alexander Mackay - 414624 – RAAF – Wooroolin WW11 Honour Board

William Alexander Mackay was born 8 Jul 1913 at Southport, the son of George & Florence Mackay. The family moved to the Sunshine Coast in the 1920’s and were farmers at Reesville near Maleny. He arrived in Wooroolin about 1938 and was a hairdresser in one of the rooms opposite the supper room at the Memorial Hall and was known as Billy.
Billy married Rene Erichsen in Apr 1940 and they lived in Andrew St, Wooroolin. Their son Ken was born in Mar 1943.
0n 6 Feb 1940, Billie enlisted in the R.A.A.F., having previously been in the Air Force Reserve. He advanced to become a sergeant and trained as an air gunner with 41 R.D.F. Wing from where he was seconded to 63 Bomber Sqd U.S.A.A.F. The B-17 Flying Fortress which Billie was attached to was shot down by enemy aircraft over Rabual on 30 Jun 1943. The aircraft was not found for many years after and when it was finally found in 1951, any remains found were repatriated to the U.S.A. for burial. Billie is interred in the St. Louis (Jefferson Barracks) National Cemetery in Saint Louis County, Missouri, U.S.A. William Alexander Mackay was 29 and his little son three months old.
The article in the Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser Friday 16 July 1943 informs us that he took park in the Bismarck Sea Battle and that he had never seen his young son.
Lest We Forget

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Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

He was 29 and the husband of Irene Christina Mackay, of Wooroolin, Queensland, Australia.

Biography contributed by David Barlow

Sergeant William Alexander MacKay 414624 RAAF (Wireless Air Gunner) of Number 41 Radar Direction Finding Wing was killed on operations over New Guinea while attached to the USAAF 63rd Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group

B17 Flying Fortress 41-24543 was intercepted over the target area at Dobadura in New Guinea by a Japanese fighter and was shot down in the vicinity of the mountains southeast of Cape Lambert