William Wallace Maxfield (1916–1943) was a male cyclist who competed for England. During his years of competition he was known as Bill Maxfield.

Cycling career

Maxfield represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 10 miles scratch race at the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 ye ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He also competed in three other events; the Road Race, the 1,000 metres Match Sprint and the 1 km Time Trial. In 1939, he won the

British National Individual Sprint Championships The British National Individual Sprint Championships are held annually as part of the British National Track Championships organised by British Cycling. The men's championship was inaugurated in 1930 and won by Sydney Cozens Sydney Turner Cozen ...

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...

Personal life

Maxfield was a storekeeper by trade and lived in Hambrook Road, London during 1938. He was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when serving as a Flight Lieutenant with

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

. He was the captain of

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

"D" of

No. 502 Squadron RAF No. 502 (Ulster) Squadron was a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron that saw service in World War II. It was reformed in September 2013, and is the oldest of all the reserve squadrons, being formed in 1925. History Formation and early years No. ...

which took off from

RAF St Davids Royal Air Force St Davids or more simply RAF St Davids is a former Royal Air Force station, near the city of St Davids, Wales, in the community of Solva. History The station was built in 1942/3 during the Second World War and was used by RAF ...

at 1244 hours on 27 December 1943. The aircraft was part of an anti shipping strike in the North Atlantic and it was last seen over an enemy vessel at 1750 hours, and last heard from when it transmitted an

SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

signal from 45° 48' N 13° 20' W at 1945 hours. He is commemorated at the

Runnymede Memorial The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, in Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey, England is a memorial dedicated to some 20,456 men and women from air forces of the British Empire who were lost in air and other operations during World War ...

References

1916 births 1943 deaths English male cyclists Cyclists at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Military personnel from Sheffield Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games {{England-cycling-bio-stub