Date of birth:

May 10th, 1923 (Kingston upon Hull, Engeland )

Date of death:

March 25th, 1944 (Weebosch/Luyksgestel/Noord-Brabant, Nederland)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Eindhoven-Woensel
Plot: KK. Grave: Coll 28-31.

Service number:

161794

Nationality:

British

Son of James and Margaret Coates, of Beverley, Yorkshire. Pilot Officer RAF, pilot, killed at the age of 20 in a crash with the Avro Lancaster Mk II JB671 OF-A of RAF 97 Squadron. Shot down by a night fighter on the way back from a mission to Berlin.'

All crew members died in this crash and are buried in the Eindhoven (Woensel) general cemetery. The inscription on his headstone reads:
'EVERLASTING MEMORIES OF ONE WHO GAVE HIS LIFE THAT WE MIGHT LIVE'

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Flying Officer

Gazetted 4-1-1944, for his tenacity during a raid on Berlin in the December 1943.

17 May 1945 parents attended Buckinham Palace to receive Distinguished Flying Medal from King GeorgeVI.Buried in general cemetry Woensel, Eindhoven, Holland.

• - https://caspir.warplane.com/personnel/unit-search/p/600031041/ - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2617698/william-darby-coates/

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Crash Site Avro Lancaster Mk II B671 OF-A

Bergeijk - North Brabant

Commonwealth War Cemetery Eindhoven-Woensel

Eindhoven - North Brabant