William John SHIRTCLIFFE

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SHIRTCLIFFE, William John

Service Numbers:	VX3411, 400032
Enlisted:	20 October 1939
Last Rank:	Pilot Officer
Last Unit:	Royal Australian Air Force
Born:	Wellington, New Zealand, 12 May 1915
Home Town:	Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Schooling:	Wellington College, New Zealand
Occupation:	Merchant Navy
Died:	Accidental, United Kingdom, 25 February 1941, aged 25 years
Cemetery:	Bassingbourn Cum Kneesworth Cemetery Row BB. Grave 10.
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Narromine Aviation Museum Memorial Wall

World War 2 Service

20 Oct 1939:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX3411, 2nd/6th Infantry Battalion
29 Apr 1940:	Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 400032
29 Apr 1940:	Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 400032, Royal Australian Air Force, Melbourne, Vic.

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Biography contributed by Mari Walker

HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE

William John Shirtcliffe was the son of William Stanley and Norah Eshdale Shirtcliffe, and the husband of Evelyn Eliza Shirtcliffe, of Devonport, New Zealand, whom he married in Australia in May 1940. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand and educated at Wellington College. For seven years he was a member of the mercantile marine.
P/O Shirtcliffe came to Australia in 1939 and initially joined the AIF prior to joining the RAAF in April 1940. He was sent to Canada for training, and later arrived in England in December 1940. On 25 February 1941 P/O Shirtcliffe was a Navigator in a Vickers Wellington I when, during a training flight, the aircraft lost control and crashed near Daventry in Northamptonshire. P/O Shirtcliffe was killed and was buried in the Bassingbourn Cum Kneesworth Cemetery, Cambridgeshire, on 1 March 1941.

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