392

W.J. FULTON.
-2- (centre aligned)

P/O. Fulton embarked on the "Awatea" for the United Kingdom, via Canada, on the 27th February 1942 arriving at No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre, Bournemouth on the 20th April. A few days later he proceeded to No. 25 Operational Training Unit, Finningley, Yorkshire, where he trained on Wellington and Hampden aircraft. Late in July, 1941 he proceeded to No. 27 Operational Training Unit, Lichfield, Staffordshire, for further training on Wellington aircraft. On the completion of the course - on the 3rd of October, 1941 - he was posted to No. 12 Squadron, Binbrook, Lincolnshire.

From Binbrook, P/O. Fulton as a pilot on Wellington aircraft, carried out 21 operational flights, the targets including Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Hanover, Cologne, Kiel, Essen, Hamburg, and Rostock, in Germany; and Brest, Paris and Cherbourg, in France.

On the night of 19th/20th May 1942, P/O Fulton was pilot of a Wellington bomber aircraft which set out to attack Mannheim, and which failed to return to its base. All the members of the crew, including P/O Fulton were classified as missing. This was his 22nd operational flight. Later, information was received from an official German source, through the International Red Cross that the bodies of two members of the crew had been washed ashore on the Frisian Islands, but there was no news of P/O Fulton. In due course his death was officially presumed to have occurred on the 20th May, 1942.

It has since been concluded that he was lost at sea without trace.

5/3/3094 AS2.
445 hours as pilot.

Mr. T.N. Fulton (F) (right aligned)
634 Kennedy Street (right aligned)
PAEROA. (right aligned & underlined)