Source 2b - WW2, The will of
Flying Officer Wilson, 1944
William Wilson came from Edinburgh. He joined the
RAF during the Second World War and was based at Wickenby in Lincolnshire,
where he flew a Lancaster bomber in No. 626 Squadron. He wrote his
will on 22 June 1944 to ensure that his personal effects would go
to his family. He died in action the following month.
Images
NAS: SC70/10/58
Audio reading
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1. How would you describe Flying Officer Wilson’s
mood on going to war? Explain your answer using evidence
from the original source.
2. Using Sources 2a and 2b, do you think Private
Ferrie and Flying Officer Wilson would have been ‘good
servicemen’?
3. Working in pairs, discuss and then list
characteristics which in your opinion would make a good
soldier or airman.
Group discussion
topic
It is the duty of every citizen to fight for his country?
Transcript
22nd June 1944
Officers’ Mess
Royal Air Force
Wickenby
Near Lincoln
This is the last will and testament of William David Wilson,
Flying Officer, RAF Volunteer Reserve, made the twenty second
day of June in the year Nineteen hundred and forty four.
I, William David Wilson, leave everything I possess to my
mother, Mrs Elizabeth Eleanor Wilson, 52 Duddingston Park,
Portobello, Midlothian, Scotland. Should she die before me,
then everything is to be divided equally amongst my two brothers
John and George, and my sister Margereta.
Should Muriel Benedik or Mrs B.K. Walton desire any of my
personal belongings, it is my desire that they have whatever
they want.
I don’t want any grieving over me, for what better
way can a man die, than fighting for the people and the things
he loves.
