All Saints Church: One of the last
One of the last who saw active service in the RAF during WW2 was remembered in a service of Thanksgiving at All Saints Church, Mollington recently.
Ray Willday, who passed away at the age of 102 last month, was born and grew up in Coventry, volunteered in 1941 and after training in Canada, returned to the UK and became a Lancaster pilot in 115 squadron.
He flew several missions over Germany but never spoke much about his wartime experiences. Although he regretted the terrible loss of life on both sides, he retained a love of aviation throughout his later life, visiting air shows and even going up in a Tiger Moth for his 90th birthday.
As a test driver for Healey cars, later Austin Healey, he enjoyed speed and competed in the 1954 Mille Miglia 1000 mile race in Italy as co-driver with John Fitch.
For the last 50 years, Ray lived in Mollington with his wife Joan, who passed away in 2016. He was churchwarden at All Saints for many years and together with Joan, shared a love of cars, gardening and dogs.