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.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alec Percy Stanley Wills | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 March 1911 Trincomalee, Eastern Province, British Ceylon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 November 1941 (aged 30) Kallang, Singapore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 2 March 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life and military career
editBorn 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
edit- ^ a b c d e f McCrery, Nigel (2011). The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two. Vol. 2nd volume. Pen and Sword. pp. 139–40. ISBN 978-1526706980.
- ^ "No. 33787". The London Gazette. 5 January 1932. p. 124.
- ^ "No. 33896". The London Gazette. 27 December 1932. p. 8294.
- ^ "No. 33973". The London Gazette. 29 August 1933. p. 5668.
- ^ "No. 34321". The London Gazette. 8 September 1936. p. 5793.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by Alec Wills". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ "Combined Services v New Zealanders, 1937". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 March 2019.