William Kevin (Bill) MORITZ

MORITZ, William Kevin

Service Number: 419325
Enlisted: 18 July 1942
Last Rank: Flight Sergeant
Last Unit: No. 461 Squadron (RAAF)
Born: Torrensville, South Australia, 29 March 1916
Home Town: Hawthorn, Boroondara, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Cyclist
Died: Flying Battle, Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Ocean, 29 November 1943, aged 27 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Runnymede Air Forces Memorial
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World War 2 Service

18 Jul 1942: Involvement Flight Sergeant, 419325
18 Jul 1942: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 419325, No. 461 Squadron (RAAF), Melbourne, VIC
18 Jul 1942: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 419325

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

Son of Frederick James Moritz and Anne Agnes Moritz; husband of Mary Scholastica Moritz, of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.

BILL MORITZ REPORTED MISSING
Flight-Sergeant W. K. ('Bill') Moritz, one of the best cyclists Australia has produced, is reported missing in air operations. For more than a year he had been engaged on anti-submarine patrol work in Sunderlands and Lancasters, and bad operated from Gibraltar, Malta, and England. He was in a plane which failed to come back from an anti-submarine patrol on Monday. He is a South Australian boy. and his mother lives at Glenunga. His brother. Brian, is also in the R.A.A.F. His wife lives at Hawthorn, Victoria, and there is a son a few months old. In the cycling world Moritz three times won both the 100-mile Australian road championship and the five-mile Australian track championship One of his most memorable wins was in the Centenary Cycling Derby at Wayville or Christmas night 1936.

Noted Cyclist Presumed Killed
Fit-Sgt. W. K. Moritz. of Hawthorn (Victoria), who had previously been reported missing and is now presumed dead following duty in Europe, was one of the outstanding road and track cyclists in Australia. Flt-Sgt. Moritz, who was a South Australian, took part and finished in the 1,100 miles Centenary Thousand race round Victoria in 1934. He won the Australasian five miles cycling championship for three years in succession, in addition to many scratch international events over all distances. He was the Australasian all-round champion in 1939, and after settling in Victoria he dominated all competitive cycling as a scratch rider for more than seven years. He broke record after record on the track and road in a long sequence of victories. Probably his best performance was to win the Australian road title as first and fastest in 110 miles Midlands Tour. A widow and son survive.

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