Sgt William Donnelly, the only serviceman from Britain to die on active service in the UAE during the Second World War, was remembered at a special ceremony in Fujairah yesterday. Donnelly, a navigator with the British Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, died on February 14, 1943, when his plane crash-landed at Dhadnah after an engine malfunction. As part of activities marking Remembrance Day, which commemorates those who have died in wars during the past 100 years, RAF personnel stationed in the UAE conducted a short service at a special memorial erected close to the site of the crash and laid a wreath in memory of Donnelly. The Dhadnah memorial was built several years ago on the initiative of Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah.
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