No need:
S.A. Pilot Leads Raid Over Holland
WITH THE TACTICAL AIR FORCE, BELGIUM, Sunday
A Johannesburg pilot, Squadron-Leader T.Y. Wallace, led an attack yesterday by a West Riding squadron which paved the way for a new advance in Holland. On the previous day Squadron-Leader Wallace had been in the front line with the Canadians to study the reasons why the advance there was being held up. The attack which he planned as a result worked out magnificently.
Rocket-firing Typhoons arrived over the area, and a pre-arranged smoke signal was fired off. As they went in the pilots could see Allied armour waiting to go forward as soon as attacks were made against the German positions which had been dug-in on higher points besides the road.
The Squadron-leader’s first rocket set fire to a house which the Germans were using for an observation post, and, after the first section had poured in many rockets and all the cannon shells it had, the second section followed in.
Then the Typhoons reformed, and the pilots watched the Canadian troops going forward without opposition.
SAPA-Reuter. 24th September 1944
SOUTH AFRICAN FIGHTER ACE
SQUADRON-LEADER T.Y. WALLACE KILLED IN ACTION
Squadron-Leader Thomas Young Wallace, DFM, CFM, who was killed after his plane had burst into flames due to enemy action and crashing near his target on November 11, took part in the defence of London during the Battle of Britain, and within three weeks brought down 12 enemy planes and probably another four. After being reported missing he was found injured on top of a house.
He was one of the nine fighter pilots left to defend London. Posted to Canada as an instructor, he was ill for four months after a serious crash near Ontario, Canada.
He returned to England in June, 1943, and was posted to No. 1 Squadron, on Typhoons, which were then on the secret list. He was invited to make a special study of the plane. His invasion plan was submitted to the Air Ministry by his OC, the late Lord Douglas Hamilton. He went to the north of England to make a special study of invasion aerial tactics, and on returning to London was made a Fighter Controller.
Squadron-Leader Wallace joined the West Riding Squadron of Typhoons as Flight Commander soon after ‘D’-Day and he fought in the Battle of the Falaise Gap. Early in October he was appointed to command the famous West Riding (Yorkshire) Typhoon Squadron.
A few weeks ago he led the raid over Holland and paved the way for the Canadians advance.
He joined the RAF early in 1939 and was the first South African to gain the DFM. His eldest brother, the late Lieut. Hugh Wallace, SAAF, was killed in Italy on May 11. Lieut Derrick Wallace of the Royal Navy, arrived in England from Persia by plane to spend a months leave with his brother a day before he was killed.
Squadron-Leader Wallace was the second son of Captain and Mrs W.F. Wallace. He was in his 29th year and was educated at the Jeppe High School.
UNVEILING CEREMONY AT YORK MINSTER
S. African woman represented relatives of 18,000 airmen
A SOUTH AFRICAN woman, Mrs Ruth Wallace, of Kensington, Johannesburg, was chosen by ballot to have the honour to represent the relatives of 18,000 airmen who lost their lives on active service, at a memorial service and unveiling ceremony in York Minster recently. She arrived in the mail ship, the Edinburgh Castle, in Durban today.
Mrs Wallace stood next to the Duke of Edinburgh during the ceremony, which was attended by 4,500 people. On either side of her stood two Marshals of the RAF, Sir Arthur Harris and Viscount Portal. Others present included Lord Tedder and the High Commissioners of South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Ambassadors for the United States, France, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.
‘Greatest moment in my life’
It was an impressive ceremony, “the greatest moment in my life,” commented Mrs Wallace. The memorial was in the form of an astronomical clock in the chantry of York Minster. Mrs Wallace’s son, Squadron-Leader Thomas Young Wallace, who was killed in a crash over France, commanded No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron in 1944.
Immediately after the ceremony Mrs Wallace attended a reception given by the Duke of Edinburgh at Duncombe Place, where she met him personally.
“He was very natural and immediately put you at your ease,” said Mrs Wallace. “He asked me if I was nervous in York Minster in front of all those people.”
Mrs Wallace is to receive a memento of this very special occasion in the form of a tape recording of the memorial service from Lord Deremore, the chairman of the Memorial Committee.
DIANA
Natal Daily News. 22nd November 1955
Mrs Ruth Wallace, of Kensington, Johannesburg, who arrived in Durban from a visit to Britain in the Edinburgh Castle to-day. While she was in England, Mrs Wallace was chosen by ballot to represent the relatives of 18,000 airmen who lost their lives on active service, at a memorial service attended by the Duke of Edinburgh.)
(N.b. Photograph caption)
Natal Daily News. 22nd November 1955
A SOLEMN CEREMONY: The Duke of Edinburgh was photographed after the ceremony of unveiling the memorial in York Minster, England, to 18,000 airmen from allied countries who lost their lives on active service. The memorial is in the form of an astronomical clock. Inset: A Johannesburg woman, Mrs W.F. Wallace had the honour to represent the relatives of these airmen at the ceremony.
Johannesburg. 27th December 1955
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