Keith Lewis was born near Ohakune on 8 April 1923. He was the son of William and Roberta (nee Palmer) Lewis and was the eldest of five children. He attended New Plymouth’s Fitzroy School and New Plymouth Boy’s High School and was a keen sportsman being involved in rugby, cycling, surf lifesaving and a member of the New Plymouth Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club.
He enlisted in the RNZAF in April 1942 and began his training in Bell Block. By July 1944 he was posted to 182 Squadron which was using airfields in France in the wake of the invasion of Europe.
Pilot Officer Lewis was the pilot of a typhoon fighter on 28 October 1944 when he was shot down over Boishem, Germany. He was at first buried in the cemetery at Duelken, Germany but was later reinterred in the British Military Cemetery, Reichswald Forest. He was 21.
A competition shield was named in his memory by the New Plymouth Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club in September 1945.
Books
Lest We Forget, Jack West, p.222
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