Wilfred Ira Collett

Forenames

Wilfred Ira AWMM

Surname

Collett AWMM

Service number

34232 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Birth

24 Jan 1912 RNZAF Biographies (R17845609)

Date of birth

b. 1912

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - NZ BDM Birth Record

Place of birth

Gisborne

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - NZ BDM Birth Record

Birth notes

Son of Edgar Arnold and Louise Amy Collett, of Gisborne

Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - NZ BDM Birth Record

Next of kin

• Mr E.A. Collett (father), Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
• WW2 Widow: Mrs. D. W. Collett of Gisborne AWMM
• WW2 Parents: Mr. & Mrs. E. A. Collett of Gisborne AWMM

Relationship status

• Married/WWII AWMM
• Unknown AWMM Married AWMM
• 1937 Wilfred COLLETT married Doreen Williamson NICOL
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - NZ BDM Marriage Records

War

World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Campaign

Europe (Air Force) AWMM

Armed force / branch

Air Force AWMM

Service number

34232 AWMM

Military service

• Hawke's Bay Aero Club under Squadron Leader T.W. White. AWMM
• Pilot Officer with the RAF; four years service in Egypt and the Middle East. AWMM

Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

• Royal Air Force, No. 14 Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 45 Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 38 Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 149 Squadron AWMM
• Royal Air Force, No. 75 (NZ) Squadron AWMM

Enlistment

WW2 Unknown AWMM Royal Air Force/Civilian AWMM

Embarkation details

WW2 Royal Air Force AWMM

Medical notes

Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last rank

Squadron Leader AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 75 (NZ) Squadron AWMM

Wilfred Collett was the son of Edgar Arnold and Louise Amy Collett, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand; husband of Doreen Williamson Collett, of Gisborne.

Married at the outbreak of war

Attended Gisborne High School (Source: RNZAF Biographies (R17845609)) AWMM

Death

4 Aug 1940 AWMM
Age  28 AWMM

Cause of death

Killed in Action AWMM

Cemetery

Feltwell (St Nicholas) Churchyard, Norfolk, England AWMM

Obituary

• Wilhelmshaven. a later air battle near Heligoland, & in lengthy & arduous bombing & reconnaissance work along the coastline of Norway. He was in charge of the bombing raid in which Leading-Aircraftsman J. Langridge, another Gisborne member of the RAF, lost his life 2 months ago. Latterly he had seen equally arduous times over the Lowlands & Northern French battlefields. In letters to his parents, be had made light of the hazards of the service, through which he had come with remarkable good fortune. The deepest sympathy will be offered to his parents, & to his wife & his five-month-old daughter, now in England. Squadron-Leader W. I. Collett's brother, Mr. Ivan Collett, Auckland, has been accepted, for service with the Royal New Zealand An Force, & is to enter upon the Air Force course at an early date.
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXVII, ISSUE 20317, 5 AUGUST 1940, PAGE 6
• Official advice of the death of their son, Squadron- Leader Wilfred Ira Collett in operations with the Royal Air Force, has been received by Mr & Mrs E A Collett. Whittaker St Gisborne. Squadron-Leader Collett was at the head of a bombing squadron, & had a splendid record of service in the Western European area of hostilities, having been in the active division of the RAF from the commencement of the war. He was born in Lower Hutt & received his education at the Gisborne Central & High Schools. From his early ’teens he was keenly interested in aviation, & after spending a year or two in the motor business he took up a post with East Coast Airways, in order to secure experience in flying. He trained as a flying member of the Hawke’s Bay Aero Club, under Squadron-Leader T W White, & qualified for his A license in preparation for his entry into the RAF his tutor being Flying-Officer E Olsen. 4 Years in Middle East He proceeded to the UK in June, 1934, & after passing through the routine course of study was commissioned as a pilot-officer. Subsequently he saw 4 years’ service in Egypt & the Middle East, & he was stationed in Egypt when he received a furlough which enabled him to return to NZ 3 years ago. During that furlough he was married to Doreen, 3rd daughter of Mr & Mrs .A J Nicol, Stout street. Gisborne, his bride accompanying him on his return to Egypt. About a year later he was transferred to a depot in the UK. & in the months prior to the outbreak of war he was training with a number of other NZ officers of the RAF for a flight to the Dominion, these officers having been chosen to fly a fleet of Wellington bombers to NZ. The war broke up the plans for this transfer of planes, & both planes & pilots were retained in Britain for war purposes. Kiel, Heligoland & Norway From the declaration of hostilities, Squadron-Leader Collett had been engaged in activities against the enemy & he was one of the NZ pilots who took part in the initial raid on the Kiel Canal
  Public - Lorraine Mona - Researcher - 26 June 2023 - N.Z. AIR LOSS - continued below
  GISBORNE HERALD, VOLUME LXVII, ISSUE 20317, 5 AUGUST 1940, PAGE

Memorial name

• Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM
• Gisborne First World War Memorial, The Esplanade, Kaiti, Gisborne AWMM

Related objects

External links

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
  https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2763583
  Further Reference
• RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Co - Dy. Archives New Zealand (R17845609)
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845609
  Sources Used
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. Archives New Zealand (R17845744)
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845744
  Sources Used

References

• Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press.
• The New Zealand Herald
  New Zealand Herald (?), 6 August 1940.
• Information kindly provided by family
• RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Co - Dy. Archives New Zealand (R17845609) - Former archives reference: AIR118
• Please note that the 11 volumes of the "RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939-1945" held at Archives NZ (formerly known as AIR118) should be used in conjunction with Errol Martyn's "For Your Tomorrow". FYT reflects detailed examination of all of the AIR118 bios which contain many inaccuracies and omissions.
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. [(New Zealanders Attached to R.A.F. [Royal Air Force]) (Officers), (Europe) - Airmen]. Archives New Zealand (R17845744)
• List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Deceased New Zealanders (Formerly) serving with RAF [Royal Air Force]. Archives New Zealand, Wellington (R17845760).
• Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.