Sergeant William Donnelly, the only serviceman from Britain and the Commonwealth to die on active service in the United Arab Emirates during the Second World war, was remembered at a special ceremony in the East Coast village of Dhadnah yesterday Donnelly, a navigator with the (British) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, RAFVR, died on 14 February 1943, when his Wellington bomber crash-landed at Dhadnah after an engine malfunction.
As part of activities marking the annual Remembrance Day, which commemorates those who have died in wars during the last 100 years, a small unit of RAF personnel currently stationed in the U.A.E. conducted a short service at a special memorial erected close to the site of the plane crash and laid a wreath in memory of Donnelly.
"We take great pride in the maintenance of the memorial and it was fitting that a wreath was laid on behalf of all serving personnel that have made the ultimate sacrifice," a spokesman said.
The Dhadnah memorial was erected several years ago on the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council member and Ruler of Fujairah.