William Jesse Winkley was born on 20th July 1920, the fourth of eight children born to Sidney Samuel Winkley and Beatrice Oakley.
The 1939 census shows him employed in the technical department of a wine and spirit brewer. The same firm employed several other members of his family.
Like his father, and his brother, John Albert, William went into military service. War records show that he was a Pilot Officer of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
The RAF Volunteer Reserve was formed in July 1936. Initially the RAFVR was composed of civilians recruited from the neighbourhoods of Reserve Flying Schools. Recruits were confined to men of between 18 and 25 years of age who had been accepted for part-time training as Pilots, Observers and Wireless Operators. The object was to provide a reserve of aircrew for use in the event of war. When war broke out in 1939 the Air Ministry employed the RAFVR as the predominant means for aircrew entry to serve with the RAF. A civilian volunteer on being accepted for aircrew training took an oath of allegiance and was then inducted into the RAFVR. Normally he returned to his civilian job for several months until he was called up for aircrew training.
William’s records seem to indicate that he primarily undertook “general duties in branch.”
In 1943 William married Dorothy Jones. The couple went on to add two daughters to their family. He died in Cornwall in 1987.
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