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William John Edgar “Bill” Hagger, a Rhodesian pilot flying with the RAF joined 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron as a Sergeant pilot in 1941 flying Spitfires. He was commissioned on 3 December. As 266 started a transition to Typhoons he left 266 on 14 April 1942 and flew to Malta as part of Operation Calendar joining 601 Squadron.
While on Malta he claimed for a damaged Ju 87 on 25 April, a share of a probable Cant Z1007bis on 16 May, and a damaged RE2001 on 2 June (Spitfire serials unknown).
At the end of June he travelled with 601 to Egypt. On the 6 July, having been promoted to acting Flight Lieutenant, he took part in an operational flight of four Spitfires. They met 3 Ju 88s and 3+ Me 109s and flak was also experienced. Hagger and one other pilot, Francis Hugh Belcher, failed to return. Belcher became a POW but Hagger was killed and is remembered on the Alamein Memorial and on the Ruzawi Preparatory School War Memorial, near Marandellas, Rhodesia.
