|
Alec Wills
Alec Percy Stanley Wills (11 March 1911 – 7 November 1941) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer. Enlisting in the Royal Air Force from Haileybury in 1932, Wills played first-class cricket for the Combined Services cricket team, before being posted to Malaya in the Second World War, where he was killed in a plane accident in November 1941. Life and military careerBorn at Trincomalee in British Ceylon, Wills was educated in England at Haileybury.[1] After leaving Haileybury, Wills was commissioned into the Royal Air Force as a pilot officer in January 1932,[2] with confirmation in the rank in December 1932.[3] He was promoted to the rank of flying officer in July 1933.[4] Three years later, in July 1936, Wills was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant.[5] He played cricket for the Royal Air Force cricket team in 1936, in a minor match against the Royal Navy at Lord's, with Wills excelling in the match with a half century and bowling figures of 6 for 71.[1] He featured again for the Royal Air Force in a minor match against the Army, taking 5 for 60 in the Army's first-innings.[1] He made one appearance in first-class cricket for the Combined Services cricket team against the touring New Zealanders in 1937 at Portsmouth.[6] Batting once during the match, he ended the Combined Services first-innings unbeaten on 3, while across both of the New Zealanders innings' he bowled a total of eight overs, conceding 36 runs.[7] At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was posted to British Malaya as a pilot instructor.[1] Wills was killed in an accident on 7 November 1941, when the Tiger Moth he was flying was hit from behind by a landing Buffalo of 243 Squadron at Kallang.[1] He was buried at Kranji War Cemetery.[1] References
External links |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||