Wally's war grave shows that he was killed in action on 1st August 1942. On the night of 31st July / 1st August the RAF raided Dusseldorf. 630 aircraft took part in the raid of which 308 were Wellingtons (the most numerous type on the raid). A number of aircraft on the raid were provided by training units (OTU's) to increase the number of aircraft. This practice had been introduced to support the 1000 bomber raids which had started earlier in the year, although this particular raid was not planned as a 1000 bomber operation. The raid is also notable as it was the first occasion when more  than 100 Lancaster bombers took part in a raid. There a detailed (German) records of the raid which detail 453 buildings being destroyed and a cow being injured by a bomb splinter! 279 people were killed by the raid, 1,018 injured and more than 12,000 people 'bombed out'. RAF losses were heavy with 29 aircraft lost (4.6%) of which 16 were Wellingtons. Of the Operational Training Unit (OTU) aircraft taking part 11 were lost (10.5%)

As mentioned on the 'Wally's Wellington' page the aircraft in the picture appears to belong to 26 OTU. The OTU's were being used as part of Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris' strategy to send 1000 bomber raids to Germany. In February 1942 Bomber Command could muster approximately 400 aircraft for a single raid, so Harris had appealed to his superiors as well as the heads of the training commands to help supplement his forces. The planned purpose of the OTU's was to allow a crew to get to know their aircraft, fly practice missions, navigation exercises and to become a close knit team before moving to an operational squadron.