Shirley Family Join Us For Our Anzac Service
We welcomed the Shirley family to our 2023 Anzac service, who joined us in memory of their direct relation, William Shirley. William attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School in 1937 and 1938 and following that he served in the RNZAF. He was with RAF 582 Squadron who flew Pathfinder missions over Germany in the Second World War and died while on a training mission.
He is remembered in our Memorial Gallery, we hear his name read annually in the World War II Roll of Honour and see his name and photograph on the Memorial Cross on the pathway at the front of the school for our Anzac Service. William was one of four brothers to attend Boys’ High so it was a pleasure to welcome a family with very strong connections to the school. Thank you to school Archivist Mr. Dominic King for telling the story of William Shirley's death on active service:
"On 23 September 1944 Flying Officer Willian Shirley was killed while flying a Lancaster bomber over England. The official statement was that it was caused by pilot error.
William Shirley attended PNBHS from 1937 to 1938. He was one of four brothers who attended the school. After the war, two of the brothers, Roy and Gwynne, were not happy with the statement that the crash was caused by pilot error, so they started investigating. At the time of the crash, there was a six-year-old boy in the village of Ongar in Essex who saw a Lancaster flying straight for the village – he then saw the plane flip on its side so the wing could pass between 2 rows of houses to avoid crashing into them. This manoeuvre happened right in front of him and he never forgot the experience. The plane then crashed into a field on the other side. So, far from pilot error, it appeared that the pilot had made a gallant effort to do all he could to avoid the plane crashing into the village. This young man made strenuous efforts to contact people who had any link with the plane. Brothers, Roy and Gwynne saw an advert/article in a Feilding newspaper about this man’s quest and this spurred them on to investigate further. What they found sounds like a novel. The plane did not have the full crew on board. There were a couple of technicians/boffins(?) in place of some of the normal crew. On trying to find out who they were or why they were on the plane, the War Office shut the door stating there was a 99-year embargo on this information! Then they found out that, apart from the front windscreen, all the other windows were blanked off to simulate flying blind – so maybe the boffins were testing some new equipment. They then researched further and found that Lancasters had problems with the ailerons in certain situations, and so this might also have led to the crash. Whatever the reason, William showed great courage and gallantry by making sure that the plane, which was obviously in trouble, did not hit the village. A memorial service was held in the village in 2000 at which members of the Shirley family were the key guests.
When the two brothers passed on, the research was carried on by Lesley Turner, daughter of Donald, one of William’s brothers. She lives in Canada and was coming to NZ for a holiday and contacted us to visit the school and our archives. Following this visit, we invited her to attend our ANZAC service and we were honoured to welcome her, her husband and son as well as other descendants of the Shirley boys who travelled down from Hamilton, Rotorua and Auckland to be at our service and to recognise the sacrifice made by their uncle and great uncle."
There is an open invitation to any families of Old Boys who gave their lives in the two World Wars to attend our ANZAC service. Please feel free to contact us.
