Perry, William Henry

Date of birth:: (Farnham/Surrey, United Kingdom)
Date of death:: September 20th, 1944
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Cemetery Uden
Plot: 6. Row: F. Grave: 6.
Service number:: 1380552 (NCO)/177599 (Officer)
Nationality:: British
Rang/eenheid:: 512 Sqdn.

Biography

Bill Perry enlisted in the RAF in October 1940 and after recieving his wings he was posted to No. 31 transport Squadron which was stationed in India on trooping duties to Iraq and the Middle East. The squadron moved to Akyab in February 1942 in support of the British forces in Burma.
After his first tour he returned to England in March 1944 to prepare for the invasion of occupied Europe and was posted to No. 512 Squadron. On D Day he and his fellow pilots of 512 Squadron dropped the 9th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment southeast of Merville.
Perry also was active on the second lift on September 1944 for operation Market Garden.
On the third day the flak had increased around the drop zones for the ground forces.

On September 20, at 2:30 pm, Pilot Officer William Perry had taken off for his third flight during Operation Market Garden. His Dakota, KG324 of the 512 Squadron, was used to supply the troops at Oosterbeek. A new drop zone was designated 3 kilometers west of Arnhem for this. At 5:20 pm, after the containers were dropped, he was hit by both anti-aircraft guns while turning away. The Dakota caught fire. Perry managed to climb his plane to 360 meters, after which he ordered his crew to jump. Warrant Officers Frank Barritt (navigator) and Bert Friend (radio operator) managed to get out of the plane together with the four air despatchers near Wijchen. Not much later he landed at the Hemelrijk brickworks in Schaijk. William Perry and the co-pilot Warrant Officer Ivan Gilbert died in the crash. There's a memorial at the crash
location.

Mr. Danen witnessed the crash as a 12-year-old boy: "I was going back home at dinner time through the forest at the brickworks. We had to cross the road quickly because there might still be Germans nearby. Suddenly we saw a plane coming from the north, it was on fire and came straight at us. Suddenly the plane turned on its side and crashed. We ran to the plane and I tried to pull a man out of the wreck. He sat on the left side of the cockpit, which had a huge hole in it. Concentrated, I tried to get the man out of the plane, but it didn't work. Only then did I see his burned face and saw that he was dead. I was in shock and gave up all hope to save him. "

William Perry and Ivan Gilbert are now buried in the war cemetery in Uden, graves 6. F. 6. and 6. F. 7.

Promotions:
? Flight Sergeant
13 December, 1943: Pilot Officer on Probation (Emergency)
5 June 1944: Flying Officer (war sub)

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Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Flight Sergeant
Unit:: No. 31 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: March 24th, 1944

Citation:
"Flight Sergeant Perry has completed a large number of sorties involving the dropping of supplies to troops both by day and night Throughout these operations he has displayed great keenness and determination. On one occasion his aircraft was hit in several places by anti-aircraft fire. Both air speed indicators were rendered useless but Flight Sergeant Perry completed the sortie successfully."

The recommendation for this award was drawn when he had flown over 700 operational hours.