Colangelo, William

Date of birth:: January 18th, 1919 (Toronto/Ontario, Canada)
Date of death:: March 1st, 1943 (Voorst, The Netherlands)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Graves General Cemetery Wilp
Grave: 4-5.
Service number:: R/100737
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

William was born on January 18 1919 in Toronto, the son of Rocco Colangelo and Felicita Colangelo nee Liscio (both Italians) of Toronto. He was married on March 26 1942 in Shedden Ontario with Jean Fleming Miller of Toronto. She remarried later as Mrs. Pepper.

He was a painter and member of the Roman Catholic Church. He spoke English and Italian and his hobby was photography and his sports were hockey and baseball.

He enlisted on April 10 1941 in Toronto and he went thereafter on July 12 1942 overseas to the UK.

William was killed in action on Monday March 1 1943 age 24 due to a crash near the Klarenbeekseweg of the village of Voorst before or after an attack on Berlin in Germany. The other fallen RAF Volunteer Reserve crew members were F/Sgt John D.W. Stenhouse age 21 in grave 1, Sgt Cyril Avery in grave 2, Sgt Alfred Beauchamp in grave 4-5, P/O Ronald A. B. Willmott age 26 in grave 4-5,Sgt Amos Howe age 21 in grave 3 and F/O John B. Duncan age 32 in grave 4-5.

A memorial has been unveiled on 2 March 2019 at the location of the crash and seven lime trees have been planted in a circle to commemorate the crew members.

He served with the 51 (R.A.F.) Sqdn Royal Canadian Air Force.

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