The Airmen's Stories - P/O W A Cuddie

William Arthur Cuddie, of Regina, Canada, was born on 12th August 1917, the son of Harry Osborne Cuddie (1883-1956) and Eva Margaret Cuddie (nee Hagerty 1889-1961).

He was educated at St Chad’s College and at Victoria High School at Edmonton.

He arrived at Liverpool on the RMS Antonia on 23rd July 1939 and joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1939.

Cuddie completed his training and joined 141 Squadron at Turnhouse on 19th August 1940.

Still serving with 141 Squadron at Ayr, at 2235 hrs on the night of 10th May 1941, Cuddie was scrambled to intercept an aircraft which had been tracked from Northumberland NW to Scotland. Cuddie is believed to have been only four miles from interception when the pilot, Rudolf Hess, baled out and the aircraft, a Me110, crashed.

He was killed on 3rd October 1943 as a Squadron Leader with 46 Squadron. In an attack on a convoy off Kos his Beaufighter XI JL907 was hit by flak and exploded. The observer Sgt. LEM Coote was also lost.

With no known grave he is remembered on the Alamein Memorial.