On 8 May 1941, Lieutenant Commander Rupert Claude Tillard and his observer, Lieutenant Mark Fownes Somerville, were killed together. Flying from HMS Ark Royal in the Mediterranean, the Fairey Fulmars of No 808 Naval Air Squadron, commanded by Tillard, attacked a force of Italian SM 79 bombers but were then bounced by CR 42 fighters, with the CO’s Fulmar being shot down.
Their partnership included the time of the Battle of Britain, but when the Battle of Britain Clasp was announced in 1945 Tillard qualified posthumously and Somerville did not. During the Battle, 808 flew from Castletown in Caithness, with the defence of the naval base at Scapa Flow, Orkney, being a key concern. It was deemed, however, that with such simple navigation there was no need to risk two men in each aircraft and the observers stayed on the ground, which meant the pilots earned the Clasp and the “Os” missed out.
Rupert Tillard had been seconded to the RAF before the war. He is buried in Enfidaville War Cemetery, Tunisia.
Mark Somerville was the nephew of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville and was under his uncle’s ultimate command when he died. His body was not recovered and his name appears on the Fleet Air Arm memorial at Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire.
Geoff Simpson FRHistS
