On 14 August 1939, Williams was promoted to acting
flight lieutenant, relinquishing the rank on 27 October 1939, and was made a substantive
flying officer on 17 August 1940. One year later to the day, he was made a substantive flight lieutenant. On 11 April 1942, Williams received his first combat posting, when he joined
No. 112 Squadron RAF, part of the
Desert Air Force (DAF), flying
P-40 Kittyhawks. Over the next two months, he also served with
No. 94 Squadron RAF and
No. 260 Squadron RAF. Although he remained an RAF officer, Williams was redeployed to No. 450 Squadron RAAF on 14 June 1942. During June 1942, he destroyed a
Junkers Ju 87 and a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 near
Gambut. On 5 July, Williams shot down a
Junkers Ju 88 belonging to
I Staffel/Lehrgeschwader 1. Williams scored four victories and two damaged during his time with No. 450 squadron. These kills are believed to have been scored in Kittyhawk
AK634 "OK-M". In late September, Williams was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross. During the
Second Battle of El Alamein, DAF Kittyhawks played an important role, carrying out many
ground attack sorties. During the battle, on 28 October 1942, Williams was promoted to Acting
Squadron Leader and was appointed Commanding Officer of No. 450 Squadron. Three days later, while
strafing a ground target near
Buq Buq, he was shot down. Williams' aircraft was accidentally hit by fire from another member of his squadron. He crash landed and was seen to get out of his Kittyhawk safely. The ground was too rough for aircraft to land and pick Williams up. He later became a POW. Williams had five official victories in air combat at the time of his capture.
Death :
See Stalag Luft III murders By early 1944, Williams and another 450 Sqn officer,
Flight Lieutenant Reginald "Rusty" Kierath, found themselves imprisoned at
Stalag Luft III, near
Sagan,
Germany. Both men were among the 76 POWs who escaped during the famous "Great Escape" in March 1944. They were both re-captured and on 29 March, along with three other Australian airmen, were among
50 Stalag Luft III POWs murdered by the
Gestapo. He is buried in the
Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, which is maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. ==See also==