Question 1

Pilot Officer Norman Patrick Watkins Hancock

Accepted Answer

Born on 4 August 1919 in Streatham, south London, Pat Hancock was educated at Croydon High School and Wimbledon Technical School. He went on to work as a laboratory assistant.
 
He joined the RAF on a short service commission and began training in February 1939. On 7 November he joined the recently reformed No 266 Squadron at Sutton Bridge.
 
He was posted to No 1 Squadron in France on 12 May 1940. After two days he was detached to No 501 Squadron but did not fly, spending his days moving around in lorries. Hancock rejoined No 1 on 18 May and on 6 June he probably destroyed a He 111. The squadron was withdrawn from Nantes and took up residence at Northolt.
 
Flying from Northolt on 16 August, Pilot Officer Hancock returned to base with two longerons of his Hurricane severed in an attack by a Bf 110 over the South Downs. On the 30th he damaged a He 111. He was posted away to No 85 Squadron, moved to No 615 Squadron in January 1941 and rejoined No 1 Squadron at the end of the month.
 
On 14 April he embarked on HMS Argus at Greenock and sailed for Gibraltar, where, on the 24th, pilots and aircraft were moved to HMS Ark Royal. Hancock led seven Hurricanes off to Malta on the 27th, to join No 261 Squadron at Hal Far.
 
He became ‘B’ Flight Commander in No 185 Squadron when Flight Lieutenant I B Westmacott, another Battle of Britain veteran, was wounded.
 
Hancock probably destroyed a He 111 in the early hours of 6 June, shared a BR 20 on 25 July and shared a SM 79 on the 27th. He received a Mention in Despatches for a dawn attack on Italian launches that were bringing frogmen to Grand Harbour, Valletta.
 
He was posted away to Air HQ, Cairo on 17 September and became an instructor at Gordon’s Tree, Sudan. There were further postings before Hancock did a refresher course and was attached to a South African Air Force Squadron before joining No 250 Squadron as a Flight Commander. Hancock damaged a Ju 88, a Bf 110 and a Mc 202 on the ground on 20 July 1942, shot down a SM 79 on the 27th and damaged a Mc 202 on the 31st.
 
Hancock took command of the squadron and earned an immediate DFC for an operation in which he led 12 Kittyhawks of 250 and six from No 405 Squadron to Benina airfield. Intelligence had reported that converted bombers from Crete were delivering petrol for the Afrika Korps.
 
After a flight through bad weather and low cloud, the Kittyhawks arrived as seven enemy bombers were still in the circuit and five others had already landed. No 250 Squadron accounted for the bombers still in the air, Hancock destroying a He 111. The Kittyhawks then strafed the airfield, destroying three SM 79s on the ground and also a He 111, destroyed by Hancock. All the Kittyhawks returned safely.
 
Hancocok later had secondments with the Turkish and Egyptian Air Forces.
Hancock returned permanently to the UK in January 1946 and became Station Commander at RAF Aberporth and CO of No 595 Squadron. He commanded No 11 Squadron in Japan from November 16 1946. Later he served at HQ No 12 Group, OC Flying, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya and was OC Flying and a squadron commander at Butterworth, Malaya.
 
His final posting was as CO RAF High Wycombe, the HQ of Bomber Command and he retired from the RAF on 12 August 1958, as a Squadron Leader, retaining the rank of Wing Commander. In 1978 he began a long stint as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. He was made OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1991. After a long period of poor health Hancock died on 23 February 2003.
 
An author who knew Pat Hancock well told the Memorial Trust: “Pat deserves considerable credit for the fact that the lives of The Few are so well documented. He was enormously helpful to those seeking information, while guarding the privacy of BBFA members.”
 
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Question 2

Flying Officer Colin Falkland Gray

Accepted Answer

Gray and his twin brother Kenneth were born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 9 November 1914. They applied for RAF short service commissions in April 1937. Kenneth was accepted but Colin failed the medical. He failed again in January 1938 but finally passed in September before sailing for the UK in December.
 
On 20 November 1939 Gray joined No 54 Squadron at Rochford, to fly Spitfires. He shared in the destruction of a Bf 109 on 24 May 1940 and returned with his aircraft badly damaged, without brakes, flaps, airspeed indicator or guns.
 
Gray destroyed a Bf 109 on 13 July, two more on the 24th, a probable Bf 109 on the 25th, two Bf 109s on 12 August and two Bf 109s on the 15th. He was awarded the DFC that day.
On the 18th Gray shot down a Bf 110, shared another, damaged two more and damaged a Do 17. He shot down a Bf 110 on the 24th and Bf 109s on the 25th and 31st, another Bf 109 and a probable He 111 on 1 September, a Bf 109 and a Bf 110 on the 2nd and a Bf 109 and a shared Bf 110 on the 3rd.
 
In December Gray was posted to No 43 Squadron as ‘B’ Flight Commander, with the rank of Acting Flight Lieutenant. He rejoined 54 on 16 January 1941, to be ‘A’ Flight Commander.
He went to No 1 Squadron on 12 June, as ‘B’ Flight Commander, and shared a He 59 on the 16th. Flying with No 41 Squadron on 2 August 1941 he shot down a Bf 109, which crashed on its own airfield at Le Havre. He was awarded a Bar to the DFC in September.
Posted on 28 September to command No 403 Squadron, Gray was appointed three days later to take command of No 616 Squadron.
 
At the end of his tour Gray was posted to HQ 9 Group, Preston, as Squadron Leader Tactics. He went to No 64 Squadron as a supernumerary and took command of the squadron on 1 November 1942.
 
Gray was posted overseas in late December and reported to HQ 333 Group at Algiers in January 1943. He joined No 81 Squadron at Gibraltar, as CO, on the 24th and on the 27th the squadron flew across to Tingley airfield, SW of Bone.
 
On 22 February Gray probably destroyed a Bf 109, on 2 March shared in the probable destruction of another, on the 23rd destroyed a Mc 202, on the 25th and 27th two Bf 109s, on 3 April a Bf 109, on the 18th a probable Bf 109, on the 20th a Bf 109 and another shared and two more Bf 109s on the 23rd and the 28th. He was awarded the DSO on 15 March.
On 1 June 1943 Gray was made Wing Commander Flying 322 Wing at Ta Kali, Malta. He shot down a Bf 109 on 14 June, a Mc 202 on the 17th and a Bf 109 on 10 July.
 
The Wing moved to Lentini airfield. On 25 July Gray led the Wing to attack a large force of Ju 52s, landing supplies on beaches near Milazzo. A large number were destroyed, two by Gray, and four enemy fighters were also shot down.
 
In September Gray went to Cairo and returned to the UK in October. In the following month he received a second bar to the DFC. After training appointments he became Wing Leader, Detling and then held the same post at Lympne.
 
In January 1945 he was sent to Cranwell for a Senior Commanders’ Course, after which he became Station Commander at RAF Skeabrae. Granted a Permanent Commission in April 1945, Gray stayed on in the RAF and held a series of appointments and commands before retiring, at his own request, on 31 March 1961, as a Group Captain. He had served as Secretary of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association.
 
He returned to New Zealand and worked for Unilever, holding a major personnel post before retiring from the company in November 1979. Colin Gray died on 2 August 1995.
 
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Question 3

Pilot Officer Noel John Victor Benson

Accepted Answer

Benson was born in 1918 in the village of Great Ouseburn, Yorkshire. His father was a local doctor.  Noel Benson went to Sedbergh School and entered RAF College, Cranwell on 28 April 1938, as a Flight Cadet. After the outbreak of war, Cranwell cadets who had not completed their courses were enlisted in the RAF as Airmen u/t Pilots.
 
Benson graduated at Cranwell on 23 October with a Permanent Commission. He immediately went to No 11 Group Fighter Pool, St Athan, converted to Blenheims and joined No 145 Squadron at Croydon on 30 October.
 
He joined ‘A’ Flight of No 603 Squadron at Prestwick on 16 December 1939. In his biography of Squadron Leader Gerald Stapleton (Stapme, published in 2002), David Ross quotes his subject, who also served with 603, as saying that “Broody” Benson gained his nickname because “he used to sit for ages in the dispersal hut and stare ahead into space ignoring all that went on around him”. Stapleton continued: “He was a very good pilot, always well turned-out and very keen to do well as a fighter pilot when the opportunity came.”
 
Benson was still with 603 in July 1940. On the 23rd he shared in the destruction of a Do 17. His Spitfire was hit by return fire and his starboard undercarriage leg collapsed on landing, with the aircraft tipping up.
 
On 27 August, 603 went south to Hornchurch. The next day Benson was shot down, during the evening, in combat with Bf 109s, and killed, his aircraft crashing in flames on Great Hay Farm, Leigh Green, Tenterden, Kent.
 
He was 21 and is buried in the extension to St Mary’s churchyard, Great Ouseburn. Benson’s brother, Captain Brian Joseph Nodder Benson, Royal Corps of Signals, was killed on 15 April 1945 and is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery, Germany, but is also commemorated on the grave at Great Ouseburn.
 
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Question 4

Sergeant Rufus Arthur Ward

Accepted Answer

Born in Croydon on 2 February 1917, Ward was known as “Rufus” to his parents, but later his wife would prefer to call him “Arthur”. He was educated at Stanley Technical School and was an aircraft engineer. He joined No 600 Squadron AAF on 3 March 1936 and transferred to the RAFVR in December 1937 as an Airman u/t Pilot.
 
Called up at the outbreak of war, Ward completed his ab initio training at Redhill. He was at Flying Training School at Sealand from April to July 1940 and was awarded his flying badge on 20 May. He completed his training and arrived at 7 OTU, Hawarden on 12 August.
Ward joined No 19 Squadron at Fowlmere on 2 September, but moved on to No 616 Squadron at Coltishall three days later and was posted to No 66 Squadron at Gravesend on the 29th.
On 5 October he probably destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged two others. Over North Kent on 8 October just before noon, Sergeant Ward was shot down and killed by Bf 109s. His Spitfire, N 3043, crashed near Valley View Road, Borstal, near Rochester.
 
He is buried in Mitcham Road Cemetery, Croydon.
 
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Question 5

Sergeant Bernard James Jennings

Accepted Answer

Jennings was born on 21 March 1915 and joined the RAF, as an Aircrafthand, on 1 May 1933. After training, he was posted to the Parachute Flight, Hendon and was standby member of the Parachute Pull-Off team, which involved standing on the wingtip of a Vickers Virginia, for the Air Display at Hendon in 1934.
 
In 1934 Jennings went to Farnborough for a photographic course and in 1935 he was posted to No 33 Squadron (Hawker Harts) at Upper Heyford as a photographer/air gunner.
The squadron was sent to the Middle East in October 1935.  Jennings applied for pilot training, returned to the UK in late 1937 and remustered as an Airman u/t Pilot on 6 December 1937.
 
In March 1938 he was posted to 10 FTS, Ternhill, Shropshire for No 8 Course. With training completed, he was posted to RAF Cranwell in November, as a staff pilot in the Signals Squadron.
 
On 4 September 1939 “Jimmy” Jennings joined No 19 Squadron at Duxford to fly Spitfires. On 27 May 1940 he probably destroyed a Do 17 over Belgium and on 1 June he destroyed a Bf 110, probably another and damaged a Do 17 on a later patrol.
 
On 24 August Jennings destroyed two Bf 110s, on 11 September he destroyed a Bf 110 and probably a He 111 and on the 27th he damaged a Bf 109. During the Battle of Britain some of 19’s sorties were as part of No 12 Group’s “Big Wing”. On 4 April 1941 Jennings was awarded the DFM.
 
He went to CFS, Upavon on 12 April 1941 to train as an instructor, after which he was posted to 5 FTS, Sealand in May but returned to Upavon in September for instructing duties. He was commissioned in December 1941.
 
To prepare for a return to operations, Jennings went to 41 OTU, Hawarden in May 1944 and in August he joined No 168 Squadron, acting in a reconnaissance role in the 2nd Tactical Air Force with Mustangs and later Typhoons. After the squadron disbanded on 26 February 1945, Jennings commanded a Ferry Flight.
 
Jennings retired from the RAF on 21 March 1962, his 47th birthday, as a Wing Commander. From 1963 until 1980 he worked for the Ministry of Defence. He died in 2000.
 
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Question 6

Flying Officer Guy Rawstron Branch

Accepted Answer

Branch was born on 27 October 1913. His father, Charles Churchill Branch, was a barrister and Alpine mountaineer. Educated at Eton like his father, G R Branch then went up to Balliol College, Oxford (his father had been at New College). Guy Branch joined No 601 Squadron, AAF in late 1936 and was commissioned in May 1937.
 
On 11 February 1938 he was on an instructional cross-country flight in a Demon with Flying Officer Aidan Crawley, who achieved some celebrity as a journalist, broadcaster, Kent County cricketer and MP. After refuelling at RAF Netheravon, they took off in poor weather and crashed in flames on the road nearby. Branch escaped from the wreckage but, realising  that Crawley was still trapped, he went back into the flames and pulled Crawley out. For this act Branch was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal.
 
Branch went to France with ‘A’ Flight of 601 on 17 May 1940. On the 20th he destroyed a Do 17. The flight rejoined the squadron at Tangmere on 22 May. Branch was posted to No 145 Squadron, also based at Tangmere, on 1 June.
 
On 15 July 1940 Branch shared in the probable destruction of a Do 17 and on 8 August he claimed the destruction of two Ju 87s. He failed to return from an engagement south of Swanage on 11 August. His Hurricane, P 2951, crashed into the sea and his body was later washed up on the French coast.
 
He was 26 and is buried in the churchyard at Quiberville, Normandy. On 23 September 1939 his sister Bridget had married Flying Officer (later Squadron Leader) T E Hubbard of 601 at Boxgrove Priory, Sussex.
 
It is sometimes suggested that Branch’s EGM was exchanged for a George Cross after the GC was instituted on 24 September 1940, but this is not the case. The warrant for the GC, published in the London Gazette on 31 January 1941, specifies that only living holders of the EGM and families of those who received the award posthumously after the outbreak of war were able and required to exchange the EGM for the GC.
 
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Question 7

Flight Lieutenant George Edward Bowes Stoney

Accepted Answer

One of the most published photographs of aircrew in the Battle of Britain shows a group of Hurricane pilots of No 501 Squadron at Hawkinge on 15 August 1940. Among the group enjoying a joke was Flight Lieutenant George Stoney. Three days later he was killed in action.
 
Stoney was born in Dublin in 1911 and joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1929. He served as an instructor on No 502 (Special Reserve) Squadron and then went to No 4 (Army Co-operation). He joined Class ‘A’ of the RAFO in July 1934 and was recalled at the outbreak of war. He was posted to RAF College FTS, Cranwell, for flying duties.
 
He went to No 214 Squadron at Methwold on 20 November 1939, to fly Wellingtons, and moved to No 99 Squadron at Newmarket on 6 December 1939. 
 
Stoney joined No 501 Squadron at Gravesend from 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on 28 July 1940, as ‘A’ Flight Commander. He shared in the destruction of a Ju 87 and damaged another on the 29th, damaged a Bf 110 on 12 August and destroyed two Ju 87s and probably another on the 15th, the day the photograph was taken.
 
On the 18th, he was shot down by Hauptmann Fözö, who, later in the Battle, would account for Sergeant Lloyd of No 41 Squadron (See entry for 7 June). George Stoney’s Hurricane, P 2549, crashed near Stile Farm, Chilham, south west of Canterbury. He was 29 and is buried in St Helen’s churchyard, Sefton, Lancashire (now Merseyside).
 
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Question 8

Sergeant Leonard Harold Bartlett

Accepted Answer

Leonard Bartlett, born in Muswell Hill, Middlesex on 20 June 1916, joined the RAFVR in May 1939, as an Airman u/t Pilot. He worked in a London wholesale meat market as a buyer and salesman.
 
Called up just before the declaration of war, he completed his training and went to 7 OTU, Hawarden on 1 July 1940. After converting to Hurricanes, he joined No 17 Squadron at Debden on 15 July.
 
On 21 August Bartlett (known as “Red” or “Bart” in the RAF) shared in the destruction of a Ju 88, on 5 September he shared a He 111 and on the 19th he shared a Ju 88.
 
On 28 October he damaged a Do 17, on 8 November he destroyed a Ju 87 and probably a second and on the 11th he shot down a Ju 87 and probably another. On 17 March 1941 Bartlett was shot down over Chiddingly, Sussex, north west of Hailsham, in Hurricane Z 2704. He was wounded and took to his parachute.
 
Commissioned in July 1941, Bartlett was posted to No 137 Squadron in February 1942. On 6 July he damaged a Ju 88.
 
In September 1942 he was given command of No 253 Squadron at Hibaldstow. The squadron went to North Africa in November. Bartlett destroyed a Ju 88 on 10 January 1943. The squadron moved to Monte Corvino, Italy in October. Bartlett was posted away in January 1944 and he was awarded the DSO on 3 March.
 
Bartlett was appointed military commander of the island of Vis, in the Adriatic, where an airfield had been constructed. He was given the US Legion of Merit for organising the rescue of USAAF crews who had ditched in the Adriatic Sea.

In 1945 Bartlett became Personal Staff Officer to the AOC Middle East. In 1965 he was one of the still-serving Battle of Britain veterans who took part in Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral procession. He retired from the RAF on June 20 1966 as a Group Captain. 
 
In 2005 he was quoted as saying about the Battle of Britain: “We were young and didn’t really think about what we were doing. I don’t think any of us really understood the importance of the battle at the time.”
 
He died in Australia on 11 February 2017, aged 100.
 
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Question 9

Pilot Officer William Towers-Perkins

Accepted Answer

Towers-Perkins attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in London. Another pupil who would serve in the RAF was the future Flying Officer Donald Edward Garland of No 12 Squadron, who was awarded a posthumous VC, together with his observer, Sergeant Thomas Gray, following the attack by Fairey Battles on bridges over the Albert canal on 12 May 1940. 
 
Bill Towers-Perkins went on to Queen Mary College, London, and learned to fly as a member of the University Air Squadron. Called up in November 1939, he was commissioned on the 18th of the month.
 
With training completed, Towers-Perkins joined No 238 Squadron at Middle Wallop on 13 July 1940 direct from Flying Training School. He arrived at 6 Operational Training Unit, Sutton Bridge on attachment on 3 August and, after converting to Hurricanes, he rejoined 238 on the 20th.
 
Towers-Perkins was shot down in an action with Ju 88s south of Tunbridge Wells on 11 September 1940. He baled out, wounded and burned, and was admitted to Tunbridge Wells Hospital. His Hurricane, P 3096, is believed to be one that crashed near Withyham post office.

Later transferred to the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, Towers-Perkins underwent plastic surgery by Archie McIndoe and was a founder-member and the first secretary of the Guinea Pig Club for disfigured RAF aircrew treated at East Grinstead.
 
He was released from the RAF in 1946.
 
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Question 10

Flying Officer Whitney Willard Straight

Accepted Answer

Whitney Straight was born in New York in 1912. He travelled to England in 1925, and after being educated at Dartington Hall he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. He took a Moral Sciences Tripos, but left the university to develop his career in motor racing, in which he was a driver and owned his own team. He flew his own aeroplane. He became a British citizen and concentrated on his business interests.
 
Straight joined No 601 Squadron, AAF in March 1939 and was called to full-time service on 24 August. He spent periods on Special Duties under Air Ministry orders.
 
He sailed with a naval force to Norway on 15 April 1940, with the temporary rank of Squadron Leader, tasked with finding frozen lakes from which aircraft could operate.
 
He found and organised the clearing of Lake Lesjaskog in time for No 263 Squadron to arrive on the 24th. The Germans bombed the lake on the 25th and destroyed most of the squadron’s Gladiators. Straight was injured in the attack and evacuated to Britain by the Navy. He was temporarily deaf and grounded. He had a spell as ADC to HRH the Duke of Kent.
 
Straight regained his operational category and rejoined 601at Exeter on 28 September. He destroyed a He 111 on 12 December south of Start Point, south Devon. He was awarded the MC on 1 January 1941 for his services in Norway. He was appointed a Flight Commander in 601 in early 1941 and destroyed a Bf 109 over the Channel on 2 February. Later in the year he commanded No 242 Squadron and was awarded the DFC.
 
During an attack on a destroyer on 31 July Straight was shot down by light flak. He made a forced-landing in a field, tried, without success, to fire the aircraft and first ran and then walked as far and as fast as he could from the scene. He slept in a barn and caught a train for Paris the next day. He went to the American Embassy but it was closed. He managed to obtain 12,000 francs from the caretaker.
 
Straight crossed into Vichy France and was eventually imprisoned, posing as a British Army officer. He was interned until escaping on 22 June 1942. With the help of the Resistance, he reached a beach near Perpignan, from where he was rowed out to a trawler, which took him and other fugitives to Gibraltar. He reached No 1 RAF Depot, Uxbridge on 21 July 1942.

He was posted to the Middle East as an Acting Air Commodore and, back in the UK, held a senior appointment in Transport Command. He was released from the RAF in November 1945, as a Group Captain, retaining the rank of Air Commodore. He had been made CBE.
 
When BEA was established in 1946, Straight became its Deputy Chairman and Managing Director. He chaired a government advisory committee on private flying and was Chairman of the Royal Aero Club from 1946 to 1951. In 1947 he became Deputy Chairman of BOAC. He later held Board appointments at Rolls-Royce, Midland Bank and the Post Office. He died on 5 April 1979.
 
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Question 11

Flying Officer Fraser Barton Sutton

Accepted Answer

Born in Witney, Oxfordshire in 1919, Sutton spent some of his early life in Jersey and worked as a newspaper reporter in Northampton and later for a paper in Nottingham. He became a member of the RAFVR in October 1937, as an Airman u/t Pilot.
 
“Barry” Sutton joined the RAF on a short service commission in February 1939. After completing his training he went to No 56 Squadron at North Weald on 2 August 1939.
On 16 May 1940, ‘B’ Flight of 56, including Sutton, flew to Vitry-en-Artois in France. He shared in the destruction of a Do 17 on the 18th and later that day his Hurricane was jumped by a Bf 109 soon after taking off, and he was wounded in the foot. Sutton managed to return to Vitry. He was sent back to England on 23 May and designated non-effective sick. He rejoined 56 on 7 July.
 
Sutton claimed a Ju 87 destroyed on 25 July, a Bf 110 on August 13, a Bf 109 on the 16th and another Bf 110 on the 26th. He was shot down, possibly by a Spitfire, in combat over the Thames Estuary on 28 August 1940 and baled out, seriously burned, from Hurricane R 4198. Sutton was admitted to Canterbury Hospital and later transferred to the RAF Hospital at Halton.
 
After a year in hospital, Sutton was posted to the Middle East. He waited in Cairo for a posting and, in November 1941, set out for Burma and joined No 136 Squadron as a Flight Commander. He probably destroyed two Japanese Army 97 Fighters on 6 February 1942.
Later in February he took command of No 135 Squadron at Mingaladon. He probably destroyed one Japanese bomber and damaged another on the 25th. The squadron was ordered to withdraw on 5 March, firstly to Akyab and then to Dum Dum, in India.
 
In mid-April 1942 Sutton was posted to Air HQ Bengal, as a staff officer. He went to the Air Fighting Training Unit at Amarda Road in early 1943, as Chief Flying Instructor and was then posted to Command HQ Delhi as Chief Tactics Officer.
 
Sutton was appointed to lead a Spitfire Wing in Bengal in April 1944 and at the end of June he became Wing Leader of a Hurricane/Spitfire Wing in the Imphal Valley.

He returned to the UK in 1945 and was awarded the DFC.  He spent time as Personal Air Secretary to the Secretary of State for Air, commanded the RAF stations at Aston Down, North Weald, Horsham St Faith (now Norwich Airport) and Bassingbourn. He retired from the RAF in April 1966 as a Group Captain and lived in a house at Rozel on Jersey’s north coast.  He wrote volumes of memoirs. He died on 16 March 1988 and is buried in the churchyard extension at Trinity Church, Jersey. For a time his grave was untended and was disappearing beneath vegetation until an islander unofficially restored it.
 
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Question 12

Flight Lieutenant Denis Geach Parnall

Accepted Answer

Born in 1915, Parnall was the son of the founder of Parnall Aircraft and attended Clifton College and Downing College, Cambridge, where he read Mechanical Sciences. He was a member of the University Air Squadron and was commissioned in Class ‘AA’ of the RAFO in December 1936. He relinquished this and transferred to the RAFVR in January 1938. In September of that year he was granted a Permanent Commission in the RAF as a University Entrant.
 
Parnall was appointed PA to the AOC Reserve Command in April 1939. In May 1940 he converted to Hurricanes and joined No 249 Squadron.
 
On 8 July Parnall shared a Ju 88, on 15 August he destroyed a Bf 110 and on 2 September he destroyed a Bf 110 and damaged two others. On the 7th he shared in the destruction of a He 111, on the 11th shared another and on the 15th he probably destroyed a He 111 and damaged a Bf 109.
 
He was shot down and killed during a patrol over Gravesend on 18 September. His Hurricane, V 6685, crashed and burned out by the A12 road, near Furness Farm, Furze Hill, Margaretting, Essex. Parnall was 25. He is buried in the churchyard of St Genesius, at St Gennys, Cornwall.
 
Years later John Beazley, who also fought with 249 and was a long serving treasurer, and later Life Vice-President, of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, described how he had seen his friend Denis Parnall bounced by a Bf 109 and shot down.

Land at Crackington Haven, close to the family home in Cornwall, was presented to the National Trust in 1959 by Wing Commander A G Parnall, brother of Denis. A plaque at the site states that this gift was in memory of Denis Parnall “and all who gave their lives in the Battle of Britain 1940”.
 
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Question 13

Flight Lieutenant Donald Eric Turner

Accepted Answer

Born in Stanley in the Falkland Islands on 31 July 1910, Turner went to England at the age of 10. He was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School at Bury St Edmunds. He worked for Barclays Bank and was a member of the Artists Rifles Territorials.
 
In September 1932 Turner joined the RAF on a short service commission. After training he joined No 19 Squadron at Duxford in September 1933.
 
Turner moved on to No 65 Squadron and then No 74 Squadron, which was about to sail for Malta. He joined No 87 Squadron at Tangmere on 22 March 1937.
 
Turner went on to Class ‘A’ of the RAFO in August 1938. He was recalled to the RAF on 1 September 1939 and became a staff pilot at Prestwick. He arrived at 6 OTU on 12 June 1940, for a refresher course. After converting to Hurricanes, he was posted to No 238 Squadron at Middle Wallop on 13 July. He took command of ‘A’ Flight. He destroyed a Bf 109 on 20 July and shared in the destruction of a Bf 110 and a Do 17 on the 21st.
 
He was shot down in combat over Convoy Peewit south of the Isle of Wight on 8 August, in Hurricane P 3823, and was reported Missing. He was never found and his name is on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 5. There is a memorial to him in Stanley Cathedral, Falkland Islands.
 
In the squadron’s operations record book it was recorded that, “Flt Lt Turner’s keenness, energy and good humour made him very popular with everyone and his strong reliable character made him an excellent second-in-command. He has been greatly missed.”
 
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Question 14

Squadron Leader John Harvey Heyworth

Accepted Answer

Heyworth was born in 1910 in Derbyshire and educated at Rugby School. He was an outstanding sportsman, particularly at rugby and cricket, and gained a place at Edinburgh University to study medicine, his father’s profession. Instead, however, in 1931 Harvey Heyworth joined the RAF on a short service commission.
 
In 1932 he was posted to No 54 Squadron and two years later he was part of the squadron’s aerobatic display team at the Hendon Air Pageant.
 
In November 1934 Heyworth was posted to No 504 Squadron, AAF, at Hucknall, as Officer Commanding ‘B’ Flight. He went on to Class ‘A’ of the Reserve of Air Force Officers in September 1936 and joined Rolls-Royce as a test pilot.
 
Recalled to the RAF on 25 August 1939, he was posted to No 22 (Army Co-operation) Squadron. He arrived at 5 OTU, Aston Down for a refresher course on 21 May 1940. The next day he went solo on a Spitfire Mk l, but crashed on landing. He was unhurt and the aircraft was repairable. On 9 July he joined No 222 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey, as a supernumerary. He took command of No 79 Squadron at Acklington three days later. On 15 August he shared in the destruction of a Bf 110 and a Do 17 and on the 31st he probably destroyed a Ju 88.
 
The squadron moved to Biggin Hill on 27 August. On 6 September Heyworth damaged a Ju 88, on the 7th he probably destroyed another and on the 27th he shared in the destruction of a He 111 and also in the probable destruction of another. He achieved further success in the spring of 1941.
 
Heyworth was posted away from 79 Squadron and attached to Rolls-Royce in June 1941 for test pilot duties. He flew many different types of aircraft before testing jets. He was seconded from the RAF to Rolls-Royce in 1942. He was awarded the AFC in 1946. After release from the RAF in 1945, as a Wing Commander, Heyworth re-joined Rolls-Royce, as a test pilot. He became Chief Test Pilot in 1951.
 
On 22 January 1954 he crashed in Dart Lancaster NG 465, on Holmwell golf course, because of fuel starvation affecting all four engines. The purpose of the flight was to test de-icing equipment. Three Rolls-Royce staff, acting as flight observers, were uninjured, but his own injuries meant the end of Heyworth’s test-flying career.
 
Harvey Heyworth died in 1959.
 
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Question 15

Flying Officer Desmond Annesley Peter McMullen

Accepted Answer

Born in Surrey on 6 December 1917, McMullen joined the RAF on a short service commission in May 1937. He became a staff pilot, but joined No 54 Squadron at Hornchurch on 8 September 1939.
 
Over Dunkirk on 24 May 1940, he probably destroyed a Bf 109 and shared another, on the 25th he probably destroyed two Bf 110s, on the 26th he destroyed a Bf 110 and on the 28th he shared in the destruction of a Do 17.
 
On 4 July, McMullen’s Spitfire was damaged by Bf 109s in an engagement near Manston, and three days later he made a forced-landing at Manston after a combat with Bf 109s near Deal. On 24 July McMullen claimed a Bf 109 destroyed and probably another, on 15 August a Bf 109 probably destroyed and another damaged, on the 16th a Bf 109 destroyed, on the 18th a Bf 110 probably destroyed and a Bf 109 and a Do 17 damaged, on the 24th and 26th two Bf 109s destroyed, on the 30th a Do 17 shared, on the 31st a probable Do 17 shared, on 2 September a Do 17 destroyed and probably a Bf 109 and on the 3rd a probable Bf 110.
 
On 11 September McMullen moved to No 222 Squadron at Hornchurch. He claimed a Bf 109 destroyed on the 14th, a Bf 109 destroyed and a Bf 110 damaged on the 15th, a Bf 109 shared on 15 October, another destroyed on the 17th, a Bf 110 shared on the 20th, a Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged on the 25th, another destroyed and one damaged on the 28th and another Bf 109 destroyed on 8 November. McMullen’s outstanding record was recognised by the award of the DFC on 1 October.
 
On 23 November he was posted to No 151 Squadron at Wittering, as an Acting Flight Lieutenant and ‘B’ Flight Commander. In January 1941 he probably destroyed a Ju 88 at night. The squadron converted to Defiants and McMullen teamed up with Sergeant Fairweather as his air gunner. In April and May they shot down two He 111s and a Ju 88.
 
In July, McMullen was posted to No 266 Squadron at Wittering. On 19 August he shared a He 111, on the 21st damaged one, on 12 September probably destroyed another, on 13 October destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged another and on the 25th destroyed a Bf 110. McMullen was awarded a Bar to the DFC (March 1941) and a second Bar (December that year).
 
In late November 1941 he was posted to an OTU, as an instructor. After service at another OTU McMullen returned to operations in April 1942 and was briefly attached to No 602 Squadron before joining No 124 Squadron at Gravesend. He damaged two FW 190s on 24 May.

In June 1942 McMullen was posted to No 64 Squadron as a supernumerary Squadron Leader. He was given command of No 65 Squadron at Gravesend in July and over Dieppe on August 19, at the time of Operation Jubilee, the ill-fated raid on the French port, he damaged a Do 217. McMullen left the squadron in September and in November he briefly led No 324 Wing in North Africa before going to a staff job.
 
McMullen retired from the RAF on 16 December 1957, as a Squadron Leader, retaining the rank of Wing Commander. He died on 1 July 1985. His portrait was drawn by Cuthbert Orde.
 
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Question 16

Flying Officer John Fraser Drummond

Accepted Answer

Drummond was born on 19 October 1918. His father had served in the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) in the Great War and worked for a timber merchant in civilian life. J F Drummond was educated at Deythur Grammar School, Llansantffraid, north Wales and Wellington School, Somerset, where he was a member of the OTC. He later worked for the same firm as his father. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in early April 1938.
 
Drummond joined No 46 Squadron at Digby on 14 January 1939. In November, he and other pilots were presented to the King for their part in an action over a convoy in the North Sea on 21 October. Eight or nine He 115s were seen in the vicinity of the convoy; three were shot down and another was damaged, causing it to land on the sea.
 
He was with the squadron when it went to Norway in late May 1940. Drummond flew a Hurricane off the carrier HMS Glorious on the 26th. On the 29th he destroyed a He 111, on June 2 a Ju 87 and on June 7 he destroyed two He 111s and damaged two more.
 
He did not rejoin the Glorious when the squadron was withdrawn and thus escaped the fate of most of 46’s pilots, who were lost when the carrier was sunk. He was evacuated by sea by the Royal Navy on 8 June. For service in Norway, Drummond was awarded the DFC on 26 July.
 
Drummond was posted to No 92 Squadron at Pembrey on 5 September. On the 11th he got a probable Bf 109, on the 23rd claimed a Bf 109 destroyed, on the 24th got a probable Bf 109 and damaged a Ju 88 and a Bf 109, on the 27th he destroyed a Ju 88 and shared a Bf 110, on the 30th got another probable Bf 109 and on 5 October he destroyed a Bf 109 and a Hs 126.

During an attack on a Do 17 over Tangmere on 10 October, Drummond collided with Pilot Officer D G Williams of 92. He baled out, wounded in an arm and a leg, but was too low to allow his parachute to open and he died shortly after landing, in the arms of a priest who had administered last rites. His Spitfire crashed and burned out in Jubilee Field, Portslade.
Drummond was 21 years old. He is buried in Thornton Garden of Rest, Lancashire. His portrait was done by Cuthbert Orde.
 
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Question 17

Warrant Officer Ernest Mayne

Accepted Answer

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 2 January 1901 – and therefore in Queen Victoria’s reign – Mayne was in the RFC from mid-1917. He transferred to the RAF on its formation.
 
As an airman pilot he was with No 74 Squadron at its re-establishment on board the HMT Neuralia at Southampton on 3 September 1935. The squadron sailed for Malta, where it was stationed at Hal Far for a year.
 
Mayne was promoted to Warrant Officer on 15 May 1940. Over Dunkirk on the 26th he shared in the probable destruction of a Hs 126 and on the 27th he destroyed a Bf 109.
 
He probably destroyed a Bf 109 and a Bf 110 and damaged another of each on 11 August. On this day his eardrums were damaged in a steep descent in action. It was his final operation. He had flown 2,000 hours in fighters. From then on he was mainly engaged in ferrying Spitfires around the Hornchurch sector and subsequently Wittering and Kirton-in-Lindsey.
 
Mayne was posted away to 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on 17 September, as an instructor. 
Commissioned in August 1941, Mayne was awarded the AFC in 1942. In June 1945 he was posted to Manston as Station Gunnery Officer. He retired on 4 December 1945 as a Flight Lieutenant, retaining the rank of Squadron Leader.

Mayne died on 24 March 1978.
 
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Question 18

Sergeant Ronald Fairfax Hamlyn

Accepted Answer

Ronnie Hamlyn was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1914 and educated in the county. He joined the RAF as a direct-entry Airman u/t Pilot in 1936.
 
He carried out his intermediate and advanced training at 8 FTS, Montrose and passed out as a Sergeant-Pilot. Hamlyn was with No 72 Squadron at Church Fenton at the outbreak of war.
 
Hamlyn was attached to No 610 Squadron at Gravesend on 6 June 1940, an attachment that later became a posting. In later life Hamlyn would explain that he made a wheels-up landing during this period and was charged with damaging His Majesty’s property. The charge was dismissed because of his achievements in the Battle of Britain.
 
On 3 July Hamlyn shared a Do 17, on the 29th he damaged a Do 17, on August 14 he damaged a Bf 109, on the 24th shot down a Ju 88 and four Bf 109s, on the 26th a Bf 109 and probably another and on the 28th and 30th he destroyed Bf 109s. He was awarded the DFM on 13 September. He became one of the RAF personnel to broadcast anonymously on the BBC about his experiences.
 
Commissioned in January 1941, Hamlyn was posted to No 242 Squadron at North Weald on 13 June. On a Blenheim escort to Bethune on 4 July he destroyed a Bf 109 and on the 27th he shot one down into the sea.
 
He was made a Flight Commander in late July and remained with the squadron until 15 October 1941, when his tour ended.
 
He was posted to form and command No 275 Squadron at Valley, operating with Lysanders and Walruses in the Air Sea Rescue role. Hamlyn was later given command of another ASR squadron, No 276 at Harrowbeer.
 
He was awarded the AFC on 1 January 1943 for his work on air sea rescue and went to the staff of Bomber Command as ASR Officer. This was presumably a demanding appointment. The Command’s Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Chief Marshal Harris, was passionate about ASR. His biographer, Henry Probert, quoted one of Harris’s PAs as saying that, early in the war, the only time he saw his boss display emotion was when a Bomber Command crew that was known to him ditched and were seen in their dinghy but not found. Harris believed the rescue effort had been incompetently led.
 
In 1944 Hamlyn was Tactics Liaison Officer with the 9th Air Force, USAAF in Normandy and later he was posted to Air Ministry on Air Staff Policy.
 
In 1945 he served at OTUs and in September he became Station Commander RAF Maiduguri, West Africa. He retired from the RAF in 1957 as a Squadron Leader.
 
Shortly before his death in April 1991, Hamlyn agreed to be interviewed by a researcher writing an article about No 610 Squadron in the Battle of Britain. The visitor mentioned that he had done a charity parachute jump. Ronnie Hamlyn’s response was: “That’s an experience you’ve had and I haven’t. I never needed to.”
 
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Question 19

Sergeant Leonard Jowitt

Accepted Answer

Jowitt was born in Failsworth, Lancashire in1911. After briefly working as a clerk, he joined the RAF in January 1928 to be an aircraft apprentice at Halton.
 
In December 1931 Jowitt passed out as a fitter airframes/engines and from January 1932 to March 1934 he served with No 20 (Army Co-operation) Squadron in India. The squadron was involved in policing the North-West Frontier. He received the Mohmand Clasp to the India General Service Medal.
 
Back in the UK, Jowitt applied for pilot training and was accepted. He passed out as a Sergeant-Pilot on 20 August 1938 and was posted to No 85 Squadron.
 
The squadron flew to France six days after war was declared. “Joey” Jowitt was one of several pilots who took off to intercept He 111s attacking the airfield at Lille-Seclin on 19 May 1940. At 7,000 feet he attacked a bomber which had broken away from its formation. It caught fire and he followed it down to see it crash and explode in the fork of a railway junction.
 
The squadron was withdrawn to Northolt on 20 May and moved to Debden. On 12 July, Sergeant Jowitt was shot down flying in defence of Convoy Booty and crashed into the sea off Felixstowe.
 
One reason why he was remembered so fondly on the squadron was for an act, with Flying Officer  “Woody” Woods-Scawen, in which the pair portrayed the presentation of medals by a French General, involving much kissing. Woods-Scawen would be killed on 1 September leading 85 into action.
 
Jowitt is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 16. He received a Mention in Despatches on 1 January 1941.
 
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Question 20

Wing Commander Edward Mortlock Donaldson

Accepted Answer

Donaldson was born in Negri Sembilan, Federated Malay States in 1912. He was educated at King’s School, Rochester, Christ’s Hospital and McGill University, Canada.
 
Donaldson joined the RAF on a short service commission in 1931 and in June 1932 was posted to No 3 Squadron at Upavon, flying Bristol Bulldogs. He won the Brooke-Popham Air Firing Trophy in 1933 and 1934 and led the aerobatic displays at Hendon in 1935 and 1937 and at the International Rally at Zurich in 1937.
 
“Teddy” Donaldson was posted to No 1 Squadron at Tangmere in July 1936, as a Flight Commander. He received a Permanent Commission in 1938. In August he joined the staff at 7 FTS, Peterborough and in November he took command of No 151 Squadron at North Weald.
 
The squadron took part in the fighting in France in 1940, using Vitry as an advanced landing ground. On 17 May Donaldson destroyed two Ju 87s, the next day a Bf 110 and on the 22nd a Ju 87 destroyed and probably a second. Over Dunkirk he shared a Ju 88 on 29 May, probably destroyed a Ju 88 on 1 June and destroyed a Bf 110 on the 2nd and two Bf 109s on the 8th. He was awarded the DSO. In late June, he baled out into the Channel, after combat with a Bf 109, but was rescued.
 
On 14 July, with the Battle of Britain underway, Donaldson claimed a Bf 109 destroyed. He was appointed Acting Wing Commander and posted from 151 on 3 August to be Chief Flying Instructor at 5 FTS, Sealand. In 1941 he went to the USA to organise gunnery schools and teach combat techniques. He was awarded the AFC.
 
In 1944, after a period at the Empire Central Flying School, Donaldson was given command of RAF Colerne, Wiltshire. He later commanded RAF Milfield, Northumberland.
Donaldson took command of the RAF High Speed Flight in early 1946 and on 7 September he broke the world speed record in a Gloster Meteor at 616 mph. He was awarded the Britannia Trophy and received a Bar to the AFC and the US Legion of Merit.
 
He retired from the RAF on 12 March 1961, as an Air Commodore. He was made CBE in 1953 and a CB in 1960. After his retirement, he was air correspondent for the Daily Telegraph until 1979.
 
Donaldson died on 2 June 2 1992 and is buried in St Andrew’s churchyard, Tangmere.
 
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Question 21

Flight Lieutenant Henry Michael Ferriss

Accepted Answer

Born at Lee, London, on 27 February, 1918, Michael Ferriss was educated at St Joseph’s Academy, Blackheath, London and Stonyhurst College, Lancashire. He was a medical student at St Thomas’s Hospital and was a member of the London University Air Squadron before he joined the RAF on a short service commission.
 
With training completed, Ferriss joined No 111 Squadron at Northolt.
 
He shared in the probable destruction of a He 111 on 8 April 1940 and shared another on the 10th. During patrols over France in May, Ferriss destroyed two Bf 110s and damaged two others on the 18th, a Bf 110 damaged on the 19th, a Bf 109 destroyed on the 31st, a Bf 109 destroyed and probably another on 2 June and another two Bf 109s destroyed on the 6th. Ferriss was awarded the DFC on 21 June.
 
He destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged a Do 17 on 10 July, now officially the opening day of the Battle of Britain, and shared a He 59 on the 28th. He was appointed ‘A’ Flight Commander on 7 August 1940, destroyed a Do 17 and damaged another on the 13th, was promoted to Acting Flight Lieutenant on the 14th and probably destroyed another Do 17 on the 15th.
 
In a head-on attack over Marden, Kent on 16 August, Ferriss collided with a Dornier Do 17 bomber and was killed. He crashed on Sheephurst Farm, Marden, in Hurricane R 4193. The Do 17 fell at Moatlands, Paddock Wood.
 
The squadron was a pioneer of head-on attacks, which, as well as shooting down enemy aircraft, could scatter formations, providing easier targets for other RAF fighters and perhaps sending aircraft back to the Continent with dead and wounded on board, as a warning of what could happen over England.
 
Ferriss is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Chislehurst, Kent.
 
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Question 22

Pilot Officer Herbert Laurance Whitbread

Accepted Answer

Whitbread was born in Ludlow in 1914 and attended the town’s grammar school. He joined the RAF on a short service commission and began his ab initio course on 6 March 1939. He was known as “Laurie” to his family but became “Hops” in the RAF.
 
With training completed, he joined No 236 Squadron in November but, in the same month, moved to No 222 Squadron at Duxford.
 
Pilot Officer Whitbread destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged another on 31 August 1940, he probably destroyed a Do 17 on 7 September and he destroyed a Bf 109 on the 9th. On 20 September he was shot down and killed in a surprise attack by Bf 109s. Although mortally wounded by machine gun fire, he managed to land his Spitfire, almost intact. It slid across a road into a small pond by Pond Cottage, Hermitage Farm, Higham near Rochester. Hops was thrown clear but was already dead.
 
He was 26 and is buried in Ludlow New Cemetery, Shropshire. A road in Ludlow is named after him and his family arranged for the illumination each year of St Laurence’s Church in the town to mark the anniversary of his death.
 
His parents received a letter from the Mayor of Ludlow which included the words: “(Laurie) was one of the lives Ludlow and England can ill afford to lose for it is to him and his Air Force we have to look for the safety of Ludlow and England.
 
“I have known him for 20 years and have watched his career with great interest – he always did what was expected of him, even to his glorious end.”
 
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Question 23

Squadron Leader Herbert Waldemar Mermagen

Accepted Answer

Born on 1 February, 1912 at Southsea, Hampshire, Mermagen was educated at Brighton College. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in 1930 and went on to be a pilot with No 43 Squadron. 
 
“Tubby” Mermagen was posted to the Central Flying School, Upavon in February 1934, for a course. He instructed with the Oxford University Air Squadron and then at a flying training school at Netheravon. On 1 June 1936 he was granted a Permanent Commission.
 
Mermagen joined the staff at CFS in August 1936. He led the Inverted Flying Formation at the 1937 Hendon Air Display and performed individual aerobatics before the King on 9 May 1938. 
 
In February 1939 Mermagen took command of RAF Usworth. It was upgraded to a Wing Commander appointment, but Mermagen remained at Usworth as Officer i/c Administration and Operations.
 
During October he moved to Duxford, to reform and command No 222 Squadron, initially with Blenheims but with Spitfires from March 1940.
 
Over Dunkirk on June 1 he destroyed a Bf 110, the squadron’s first success. He would later recall his exchange with one of his Flight Commanders, Flight Lieutenant Douglas Bader, after the aircraft had returned.
 
Mermagen said: “Well, I must say I was most surprised when that thing fell down.”
Bader responded: “I must say, so were the rest of us.”
 
On 19 June Squadron Leader Mermagen damaged a He 111 at night over Hull. He was awarded the AFC in July.
 
On 31 July 1940 Mermagen was posted to RAF Warmwell, for ops duties. He joined HQ No 9 Group on 9 August, again for ops duties. He was attached to HQ No 12 Group on 12 August.
 
He temporarily commanded No 266 Squadron at Wittering for five days from 12 September. 
Mermagen commanded RAF Speke and then RAF Valley. He was posted to the Middle East and then held staff appointments in the UK and France as well as serving in Berlin.
 
Tubby Mermagen retired from the RAF on 14 November 1960 as an Air Commodore.
He was appointed OBE in 1941, advanced to CBE in 1945 and became CB in 1960. He died in January 1998. In his youth he appeared as a Rugby Union wing three-quarter for Richmond and the RAF.
 
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Question 24

Sergeant Philip David Lloyd

Accepted Answer

Lloyd was born in Loughton, Essex, and worked for Chigwell Urban District Council. He joined the RAFVR in September 1938, as an Airman u/t Pilot, and did his weekend flying at Stapleford Tawney.
 
Called up at the outbreak of war, Lloyd finished his training, arrived at 7 OTU, Hawarden on 12 August 1940 and joined No 41 Squadron, flying Spitfires, at Catterick in early September.
 
He did not carry out his first operational sortie until 12 October, when the squadron was at Hornchurch. Three days later Sergeant Lloyd was shot down and killed in a surprise attack by the Austrian-born Luftwaffe ace Hauptmann Josef “Joschko” Fözö, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Lloyd’s Spitfire crashed into the Channel. His body was washed ashore near Herne Bay 12 days later.
 
Lloyd was 23. He is buried in the Holy Innocents’ churchyard, High Beach, Essex. He had been married in the same church on 24 August.
 
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Question 25

Sergeant John Stanley Gilders

Accepted Answer

Some of the men lost in the Battle of Britain did not reach their final resting place until many years later. One of those was John Gilders.
 
Gilders was born in Deal, Kent on 4 October 1919, the son of an accountant who went to Brazil to work for Unilever in the early 1920s. As a result John Gilders spent several years in the country. On returning to the UK he attended Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, Essex.
 
In May 1938 Gilders joined the RAFVR. He was called up on 1 September 1939. On 15 June 1940 he received his first operational posting, when he was sent to Acklington to join No 72 Squadron, equipped with Spitfires. He was slightly injured in a night landing accident on 22 August.
 
The squadron moved to Biggin Hill on the 31st. During September Sergeant Gilders claimed five enemy aircraft destroyed, one forced down, 1 shared and 3 damaged.
 
After the Battle Gilders went to No 616 Squadron and then No 41 Squadron.
 
Gilders was killed on 21 February1941, when his Spitfire, P 7816, dived into soft ground near the Great Stour River at Chilham, Kent and buried itself. Although Gilders is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, on Panel 43, it always seemed that he went in with his aircraft. His father died in 1969, disappointed in his hope that a proper burial could be arranged.
 
In 1990 the crash site was located, but in spite of requests by Gilders’ family for the wreckage to be excavated and for him to be given a funeral, the owner of the land would not permit access, even for family members to place flowers.
 
In April 1994 the site was investigated again, with the owner’s permission, and Gilders’ remains were found. After much legal debate, permission was finally given for the remains to be exhumed.
 
On 12 May 1995, John Gilders was buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, with full military honours. His Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone carries the words from his family: “Forever loved and remembered”.
 
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Question 26

Flight Sergeant Edward Tyrer

Accepted Answer

Edward Tyrer was born in 1915 in Liverpool and joined the RAF in April 1932, as an Apprentice Clerk at RAF Records, Ruislip. He later applied for pilot training and was accepted. He appears to have had a spell as a staff pilot and then served with Nos 610 and 611 Squadrons.
 
By early May 1940 he was with No 46 Squadron (Hurricanes) and went with the squadron to Norway. On 2 June Sergeant Tyrer shared in damaging a Ju 87 near Skaanland. He was evacuated by the Navy on 8 June.
 
Still with 46 during the Battle of Britain, Tyrer damaged a Do 17 and a Bf 109 on 7 September, destroyed a Do 17 on the 15th and probably destroyed a Ju 88 and a Bf 110 and damaged a Bf 109 on the 27th. He was now a Flight Sergeant.
 
Commissioned in November 1941, he was released from the RAF in 1945 in the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
 
On 1 April 1946, Tyrer was killed flying Dragon Rapide G-AERZ, operated by Railway Air Services, which crashed in dense fog on Royal Belfast Golf Course, Craigavad, County Down, about 200 yards from the club house. Another crew member and four passengers were also lost.
 
The aircraft had been en route from Speke, Liverpool to Belfast on a scheduled passenger service. It was approaching Belfast City Airport when it hit trees. Heavy rain was also encountered and it was believed that the pilot had reduced altitude to try to retain ground visibility. People associated with the golf club, including the head steward and a bar steward, ran to try to help. One casualty was found outside the burning wreckage and was able to speak, but later died.
 
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Question 27

Sergeant John Victor Wadham

Accepted Answer

Wadham was educated at Ryde School and Newport Grammar School on the Isle of Wight. He became an apprentice with a furnishing firm in Southampton and joined the RAFVR in November 1938, as an Airman u/t Pilot.
 
Called up at the outbreak of war, Wadham completed his training and went to 7 OTU, Hawarden, where he converted to Hurricanes. He then joined No 145 Squadron on 30 July 1940. Sergeant Wadham was attached to No 601 Squadron for a brief spell during which time he made several training flights. He rejoined 145 at Westhampnett.
 
Wadham was shot down and killed by Bf 109s over Hastings at about 10.40 in the morning of October 12. His Hurricane, V 7426, crashed at Courseham Farm, Chittenden, near Cranbrook, Kent.
 
Wadham was 21. He is buried in Carisbrooke Cemetery, Isle of Wight.
 
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Question 28

Flying Officer Lancelot Robert George Mitchell

Accepted Answer

Lance Mitchell became a pupil pilot in the Reserve of Air Force Officers on 31 May 1937. He was commissioned in August that year but was later granted an RAF short service commission and joined No 85 Squadron at Debden in July 1938.
 
Mitchell was posted to No 611 Squadron at Duxford on 5 September 1939. He was ill for a time and then joined No 257 Squadron, when it was reformed at Hendon in May 1940. The squadron was initially allocated Spitfires, but quickly received Hurricanes instead.
 
On 19 July Mitchell shared in the destruction of a Do 17. He was appointed ‘B’ Flight Commander on 8 August. He damaged a Ju 88 on 13 August, damaged a Do 17 on the 20th and destroyed a Bf 110 on the 31st.
 
Mitchell was shot down in an action over the Thames Estuary at about 5.30pm on 7 September, in Hurricane V 7254. He was believed to have crashed into the sea and was reported “Missing”. Also reported missing after the engagement was Flight Lieutenant Hugh Beresford of 257. His remains would eventually be found, in 1979.
 
Lance Mitchell was 24 and his name is on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 6.
 
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Question 29

Sergeant Peter O’Byrne

Accepted Answer

Born in Coventry on 7 August 1917, Peter O’Byrne joined the RAFVR on 12 June 1937, as an Airman u/t Pilot. He was called up when war broke out.
 
In May 1940, having converted to Hurricanes, he was sent to France. On 28 May he joined No 73 Squadron there. The squadron returned to the UK in June.
 
In combat with Bf 110s on 27 September, O’Byrne’s Hurricane suffered engine damage and he made a wheels-up landing in a Surrey wood, tearing his wings off.
 
On 25 October O’Byrne was posted to No 501 Squadron at Kenley. Four days later he made a crash-landing near Leatherhead, during a routine patrol, but again escaped unhurt.
 
He moved to No 601 Squadron on 21 December but the stay was short. He was designated for overseas service in January 1941 and embarked on HMS Furious on 1 March.
 
After a period in the Middle East Pool and at HQ Abu Sueir, O’Byrne was posted to No 112 Squadron in Crete, but four days later it was withdrawn as the Germans advanced. He returned to the Middle East and rejoined No 73 Squadron. O’Byrne served with the Met Flight and was promoted to Warrant Officer.
 
He was later posted to No 267 Squadron at Bari, Italy, to fly Dakotas, dropping supplies to partisans in Yugoslavia. He later returned to the UK, but then served in Burma, reaching home again in July 1946. Later that year he left the RAF as a Warrant Officer.
 
Peter O’Byrne joined Aer Lingus as a pilot. He went on to fly with Jersey Airlines, as a Captain, until his retirement. He died in July 1998.
 
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Question 30

Sergeant Arthur Charles Leigh

Accepted Answer

The son of a regular soldier, Leigh was born in London in 1920. He was working as an assistant in a clothing shop in Cambridge when he joined the RAFVR in June 1939 to train as a pilot. He was called up at the outbreak of war.
 
“Joe” Leigh was posted to 7 OTU, Hawarden on 31 August 1940, and after converting to Spitfires he joined No 64 Squadron at Leconfield and flew his first operational sortie on 29 September.
 
He moved to No 72 Squadron at Biggin Hill on 11 October and then to No 611 Squadron at Digby on 8 November 1940. He shared in the destruction of a Do 17 on 21 December.
 
Leigh shared in probably destroying a Bf 109 on 28 May 1941, destroyed a Bf 109 and probably another on 18 June, got a probable Bf 109 on the 22nd, probably destroyed another and damaged a second on 4 July, probably destroyed another on the 23rd and destroyed two more on 19 August and 4 September.
 
He was awarded the DFM on 9 September and at that point had taken part in 50 sweeps over the continent. He was commissioned and became an instructor.
 
Leigh was posted to Gibraltar in April 1943, from where he ferried Hurricanes to Cairo. In early August he returned to the UK and joined No 56 Squadron at Manston. He was shot down on his first sweep, by flak, near Calais. Leigh baled out into the Channel and was picked up by an ASR launch.
 
In late 1943 he was posted to No 129 Squadron at Hornchurch, awarded the DFC and, after completing his second tour, had another spell as an instructor.
In December 1945 Joe Leigh was released from the RAF. He later started a successful architectural hardware business in Norwich. He died on 3 July 2004.
 
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Question 31

Pilot Officer Arthur William Clarke

Accepted Answer

Arthur Clarke was born in Altrincham, Cheshire on Boxing Day 1919.
 
In January 1931, he and his sister went to Cheadle Hulme (Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks’ Orphan) School, their father having died. Clarke became a House Captain and then School Captain in 1937. He captained the school lacrosse team and led the scout troop.
He went on to work in the Meteorological Department of the Air Ministry before leaving to join the RAF on a short service commission in June 1939.
 
After completing his training and converting to Hurricanes, Clarke joined No 504 Squadron on 13 April 1940. On 11 September he was shot down in combat over the Kent coast, in Hurricane P 3770, and reported ‘Missing’. The CO, Squadron Leader John Sample, DFC, wrote to Arthur Clarke’s mother saying that nobody on the squadron had seen what had happened and holding out the faint hope that he had come down in the Channel and become a prisoner of the Germans. No such news came and Clarke’s name was placed on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 7.
 
Much later, however, an investigation of an aircraft that crashed and burned out near Newchurch on Romney Marsh proved that it was Hurricane P 3770. The remains of Pilot Officer Clarke were still in the cockpit.
 
Relatives decided he should lie undisturbed and a memorial was placed at the side of the road close to the crash site. It was dedicated on 11 September 1986, the 46th anniversary of Arthur Clarke’s death.
 
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Question 32

Sergeant William Burley Higgins

Accepted Answer

Higgins was born at Hodthorpe, Whitwell, Derbyshire in 1914 and was known as “Burley” in his family. He attended Brunts Grammar School, Mansfield, trained as a teacher and taught at his old Church of England junior school in Whitwell. He was a noted athlete, footballer and cricketer.
 
He joined the RAFVR in August 1938 as an Airman u/t Pilot and carried out his elementary flying training at Tollerton. Called up on 1 September 1939, he completed his training at 5 Flying Training School, Sealand. Those with him on the course included John Gurteen and Denis Helcke, who would both be killed in the Battle of Britain.
 
Burley Higgins joined No 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill on 18 June 1940, direct from 5 FTS. He flew his first operational sortie on 3 July and shared a Do 17, on the 20th he probably destroyed a Bf 110, on 12 August he probably destroyed a Bf 109 and on the 24th he shot down another.
 
On 9 September Sergeant Higgins was posted to No 253 Squadron at Kenley, which had been in the front line for just over a week and had suffered significant casualties. On the 11th he destroyed a Bf 109, shared a Do 17 and damaged a Bf 110. On the early evening of the 14th he was shot down in combat with Bf 109s, his Hurricane, P 5184, crashing in flames into an orchard at Swanton Bridge, Bredgar, Kent.
 
A civilian pulled Higgins from the fire, but he was dead. Sergeant John “Andy” Anderson of 253 baled out, severely burned, during the same action and would become a member of the Guinea Pig Club.
 
Higgins is buried in St Lawrence’s churchyard, Whitwell.
 
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Question 33

Flight Lieutenant William Francis Blackadder

Accepted Answer

Blackadder was born in 1913 and went to Edinburgh University. He joined No 607 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, in early 1936. He was embodied for full-time service on 24 August 1939 and went with the squadron to France in November. He was an Acting Flight Lieutenant and ‘A’ Flight Commander by April 1940. By that time the squadron’s Gladiators had been exchanged for Hurricanes.
 
On 11 May Blackadder shared in destroying a He 111 and claimed another destroyed, which was not confirmed.
 
On the 18th Blackadder claimed a Do 17 destroyed but his Hurricane was hit by return fire and he made a crash-landing.
 
The squadron was withdrawn to England on the 20th. Blackadder was awarded the DSO on 4 June, the citation stating that he had shot down three enemy aircraft and carried out several very important reconnaissances of bridges and roads at a time when information was hard to come by.
 
On 14 August Blackadder damaged two He 111s and next day he destroyed one near Seaham, Co Durham. On both days the Germans were attempting to raid targets in the north east. The squadron moved to Tangmere at the beginning of September. On the 9th Blackadder shared in the destruction of a Do 17, on the 13th he damaged a Ju 88, on the 14th he shared two Ju 88s, on the 26th he shot down a He 111 and on 4 October he shared a probable He 111. On 24 October 1940 he was detached to RAF Turnhouse as Sector Controller. He later performed the same function at Usworth, Ouston, Prestwick and Ayr. He received a Mention in Despatches (1.1.41).
 
Blackadder commanded No 245 Squadron from June 1941 to July 1942, when he was posted to No 10 Group as Controller at Rudloe Manor, later going to HQ Fighter Command as Wing Commander Tactics. He moved to HQ Allied Expeditionary Forces.
 
Blackadder’s final wartime posting was as CO of the Air Fighting Development Unit at Wittering. He was made OBE on 1 January 1945 and was released from the RAF in November. He rejoined 607 in the AAF in September 1946 and served with it until December 1948, after which he commanded the Northumberland Wing of the ATC until February 1951. Blackadder died in 1997.
 
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Question 34

Pilot Officer Stuart Nigel Rose

Accepted Answer

Nigel Rose was born in 1918 and attended Felsted School in Essex from 1932 to 1935. He became a trainee quantity surveyor, with one of his projects involving the Supermarine factory at Woolston, Southampton. After the war he became a Chartered Quantity Surveyor.
 
Rose joined the RAFVR at Southampton in December 1938. He began his flying training at Hamble and had logged 87 flying hours before being called up at the outbreak of war.
With training completed on 17 June 1940, he was commissioned on the 18th and he joined No 602 Squadron flying Spitfires from Drem on the 20th.
 
“Rosebud”, as he was known on the squadron, claimed a Bf 110 destroyed on 25 August and on 7 September he shared a Bf 110. He was wounded on the 11th and was non-effective sick until 6 October.
 
He probably destroyed a Bf 109 on the 29th and on 6 November he shared in damaging a Ju 88.
 
Promoted to Flying Officer in June 1941, Rose was posted to No 54 Squadron in September. He became an instructor and later served in the Middle East. He was released from the RAF in February 1946, as a Squadron Leader.
 
Nigel Rose died in 2017.
 
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Question 35

Flight Lieutenant John Browning Holderness

Accepted Answer

Holderness was an officer in the 1st Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment (Territorial Force). On 13 November 1935 he was attached to the Air Section of the Battalion.
 
He transferred to the Air Section of the Southern Rhodesia Defence Force in July 1936 and this became the Southern Rhodesian Air Unit on 1 April 1938. Holderness was awarded his wings on 13 May 1938.
 
He travelled to England with a draft of Southern Rhodesians in July 1940, landing in Liverpool on 13 August. He was commissioned in the RAFVR and he arrived at 5 OTU, Aston Down on 20 August.
 
After converting to Hurricanes, Holderness joined No 1 Squadron at Northolt on 4 September. He destroyed a Do 17 three days later. He moved to No 229 Squadron at Northolt on 17 October.
 
After rejoining the Southern Rhodesian Forces in August 1945, Holderness returned to Rhodesia and farmed there until 1971. He sold his farm and worked in the family law business. He was killed in a road traffic accident near his home in South Africa on 15 April 2008, aged 96.
 
Holderness had two younger brothers who were wartime RAF aircrew. Both survived the war.
 
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Question 36

Pilot Officer Alfred Lammer

Accepted Answer

Lammer was born Alfred Ritter von Lammer in Linz, Austria in 1909. Lammer studied in Munch and Innsbruck and became a member of an Austrian anti-Nazi volunteer group. In 1934 he went to London to work for the Austrian Travel Bureau.
 
When Germany invaded Austria in 1938 he was offered German citizenship, but being fervently anti-Nazi he declined and was declared stateless. Lammer lost his job, lived on his savings and studied photography.
 
At the outbreak of war Lammer volunteered for the RAF. Somewhat to his surprise he was granted an emergency commission in March 1940 for training as an Air Gunner. He did not become a British citizen until 22 May 1941.
 
After initial ground training, Pilot Officer Lammer went on a gunnery course. He joined No 254 Squadron and was immediately attached to No 206 Squadron, flying in Hudsons on convoy escort. On 9 July Lammer was posted to 5 OTU, Aston Down, where he converted to Defiants before joining No 141 Squadron at Prestwick.
 
He later retrained as a Radio Observer on Beaufighters and was posted to No 409 Squadron at Coleby Grange on 1 November 1941. He went to No 255 Squadron at Coltishall in February 1942, as Navigation Leader.
 
The squadron flew to Gibraltar on 14 November and landed at Maison Blanche, Algiers the next day. Shortly afterwards Lammer went with a detachment to Souk-el-Arba.
 
He assisted in the destruction of a He 111 and two Cant 1007s on the 6th, flying with Squadron Leader J H Player. On December 15 and 17, two Ju 88s were destroyed, with Wing Commander D P D G Kelly. Lammer was awarded the DFC on 16 February 1943.
 
On 25 June, flying again with Player, Lammer assisted in destroying a Cant 1007. Tour-expired, Lammer returned to the UK and was posted as Squadron Leader i/c Radar and Navigation at 62 OTU, Ouston in September 1943. A bar to his DFC was gazetted on 29 October.
 
Lammer went to 54 OTU as Senior Navigation Radar Instructor in June 1945. He received a Mention in Despatches and was released from the RAF on 7 November 1945 as a Squadron Leader.
 
He became a professional photographer and had his own studio, specialising in photographing children. Lammer later taught at Guildford and the London School of Art. After retirement he taught part time at the Royal College of Art and was made an Honorary Fellow. His photographs were used on postage stamps.
 
Lammer died on 4 October 2000.
 
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Question 37

Pilot Officer Wlodzimierz Miksa

Accepted Answer

Born at Lodz on 27 September 1915, Miksa joined the Polish Air Force in 1936. When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939 he was serving with 114 Eskadra. He destroyed a Bf 110 and shared another on the 7th and shared a Hs 126 and damaged a He 111 on the 8th.
 
Miksa escaped to France and initially became an instructor with the Polish Fighter Training Unit at Lyon-Bron. He flew in combat during the German invasion.
Miksa arrived in England on 16 July 1940, eventually reaching No 1 School of Army Co-operation, Old Sarum, for a Polish Pilots’ course.
 
He converted to Hurricanes at an Operational Training Unit and then joined No 151 Squadron at Digby on 18 October, but on the 21st he moved to No 303 Squadron at Leconfield. He was slightly injured on active service on 29 October.
 
His next posting was to No 315 Squadron at Acklington. Miksa destroyed a Bf 109, probably destroyed another and damaged a third on 21 October 1941. He was appointed a Flight Commander.
 
After service at OTUs, Miksa joined No 302 Squadron at Northolt in the autumn of 1943. He was given command of No 317 Squadron, also at Northolt, on 1 January 1944. In August he was posted for liaison duties at HQ 12 Group. As well as a number of Polish awards, he received the DFC.
 
He was released from the Polish Air Force in February 1946.
 
Miksa settled in England, married into the Pilkington glass manufacturing family and changed his name to Pilkington-Miksa. He died on 20 August 1999.
 
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Question 38

Squadron Leader Rupert Henry Archibald Leigh

Accepted Answer

Born in 1912, Leigh was educated at Cheltenham College. He entered RAF College, Cranwell in January 1930, as a Flight Cadet and graduated on 18 December 1931. He was posted to the recently reformed No 57 Squadron at Netheravon to fly Hawker Hart two-seater light bombers.
 
In 1932 Leigh went to RAF Gosport under instruction, and then joined No 810 (Fleet Torpedo-Bomber) Squadron, based at Gosport and at sea on HMS Courageous.
 
“Lucky” Leigh became an instructor and joined the staff of the Central Flying School. As a Flight Commander there he was the man who pronounced Douglas Bader, who had lost both legs in a flying accident, fit for flying duties.
 
In April 1940 Leigh joined No 66 Squadron, as a supernumerary Squadron Leader. He took command of the squadron on the 9th.
 
Flying Spitfires, he shared in the destruction of a He 111 on 12 May 1940, destroyed a He 111 on 9 September, shared in the destruction of another on the 11th and damaged a Bf 109 on 13 October.
 
He was posted to HQ No 12 Group on 18 October on administrative duties. Leigh returned to operations in May 1941, taking command of No 23 Squadron, an appointment he retained until December that year.
 
Leigh retired from the RAF on 7 December 1954 as a Group Captain, retaining the rank of Air Commodore. During the war he received no gallantry decorations, but was Mentioned in Despatches five times.
 
He died on 1 February 1991.
 
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Question 39

Pilot Officer Geoffrey Mervyn Simpson

Accepted Answer

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1919, Simpson attended Christ’s College there. He was employed as a clerk and joined the territorials, serving in the 1st Canterbury Regiment.
 
In 1938 Simpson was provisionally accepted for an RAF short service commission and sailed to the UK. He was awarded his flying badge on 6 May 1939.
 
On 6 October Simpson joined No 229 Squadron flying Blenheims. In March 1940 these were replaced by Hurricanes. On 16 May ‘A’ Flight, with Simpson as one of its members, went to France. On the 18th he destroyed a Bf 110 and on the 21st he shot down two He 111s.
 
The Squadron then took part in operations over Dunkirk, based at Biggin Hill and using Manston as its forward base. On 29 May Simpson damaged a Bf 109 and on the 31st he probably destroyed a Do 17. On the 15 September, with 229 now based at Northolt, Simpson shared in destroying a He 111. On 15 October he damaged a Bf 109.
 
On 26 October Hurricanes of 229 and No 302 Squadron chased Bf 109s across the Channel. They lost them and started to return.
 
Simpson, leading Blue Section of 229, saw a He 59 flying low off the coast in the vicinity of Boulogne. He went down, accompanied by Sergeant Ommaney and Pilot Officer McHardy. After two bursts from Ommaney, the floatplane landed on the sea, with three of its four crew killed. The Hurricanes were then attacked from the rear by Bf 109s as well as ground fire.
 
Ommaney returned safely, but McHardy and Simpson were seen to be heavily engaged by Bf 109s. They did not return. McHardy became a PoW but Simpson was not heard of again. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 6.
 
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Question 40

Squadron Leader John Vincent Clarence Badger

Accepted Answer

Badger was born in London in 1912 and was educated at the Belfast Academical Institute.
 
He joined the RAF as an Aircraft Apprentice in September 1928, passed out in August 1931 and was awarded a flight cadetship at RAF College, Cranwell. He graduated in July 1933, winning the Sword of Honour and being granted a permanent commission. He was posted to No 43 Squadron.
 
At this time the RAF was supplying pilots for the Fleet Air Arm, and on 3 October 1934 Badger went to the School of Naval Co-operation, Lee-on-Solent. He joined No 821 (Fleet Spotter-Reconnaissance) Squadron in May 1935, based at Eastleigh near Southampton and at sea on the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. Badger was posted to the Marine Aircraft Establishment at Felixstowe in October 1937.
 
On 24 July 1939, “Tubby” Badger was posted to the Air Staff at the newly-formed No 13 Group as Squadron Leader Intelligence. He was sent to France on 13 January 1940 and became Squadron Leader Organisation at HQ No 14 Group.
 
On 21 June 1940 he went to No 43 Squadron at Tangmere, as a supernumerary Squadron Leader, to gain operational and administrative experience. On 9 July the CO, Squadron Leader George Lott, was badly wounded (thus missing the qualification for the Battle of Britain Clasp by hours) and Badger took command of 43.
 
On the 12th he shared a He 111 and on 8 August he got a probable Bf 109, on the 13th damaged two Ju 88s, on the 14th and 15th destroyed two others, on the 16th shot down three Ju 87s and on the 26th destroyed a He 111 and shared a second.
 
Badger was shot down by Bf 109s on 30 August at about 5.30pm. He baled out but was badly hurt when he landed in trees. His Hurricane, V 6458, crashed south of Woodchurch, near Tenterden. He was admitted to Ashford Hospital and was later moved to the RAF Hospital at Halton, Buckinghamshire. He died there from his injuries on 30 June 1941, aged 28, having received the DFC and a Mention in Despatches after being shot down.
 
The citation for his DFC read: “This officer assumed command of a squadron in July 1940 and it is through his personal leadership that the squadron has achieved so many successes since the intensive air operations began."
 
"He has been instrumental in destroying six enemy aircraft. In spite of the fact that on three occasions he has returned with his aircraft very badly damaged through enemy cannon fire, he has immediately taken off again to lead his squadron on patrol."
 
“Squadron Leader Badger has displayed great courage and resolution.”
 
He is buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, Halton.
 
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Question 41

Squadron Leader Aeneas Ranald Donald MacDonell

Accepted Answer

MacDonell was born in Baku, Russia in November 1913. He was “Don” or “Mac” in the RAF and in 1941 would become 22nd Hereditary Chief of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry.
 
Educated at Hurstpierpoint College, he entered RAF College, Cranwell in September 1932 as a Flight Cadet and graduated in July 1934 with a permanent commission. He was posted to No 54 Squadron at Hornchurch.
 
In 1936 MacDonell was posted to No 802 (Fleet Fighter) Squadron, based on shore at Hal Far, Malta and at sea on HMS Glorious. He later went to RAF Gosport as an instructor before serving at the Air Ministry.
 
On 30 June 1940 MacDonell arrived at 5 OTU, Aston Down. After converting to Spitfires, he was posted to No 64 Squadron at Kenley on 19 July as a supernumerary.
 
On 25 July MacDonell claimed a Ju 87 destroyed. On this day 64’s CO, Squadron Leader N C Odbert, flew his last sortie before a posting to Northern Ireland, and MacDonell assumed command on the 26th or soon after.
 
On the 29th he destroyed a Ju 87 and a Bf 109 and damaged another Bf 109, on 5 August he destroyed a Bf 109 and probably another, on the 8th he probably destroyed two Bf 109s, on the 11th destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged another and on the 15th he destroyed a Bf 109 and damaged another.
 
MacDonell destroyed a Bf 109, probably another, damaged a third, shared a He 111 and damaged another on the 16th. On this day he was shot down by a Bf 109. He baled out, unhurt, landing at Possingworth Park, Heathfield, Sussex. His Spitfire crashed at Blackboys, Uckfield. MacDonell destroyed a Do 17 and damaged a Ju 88 on the 18th and was awarded the DFC on 6 September.
 
On 11 November MacDonell damaged a Bf 109 and on the 29th destroyed another, his final victory. He was portrayed by Cuthbert Orde.
 
In March 1941, on a sweep over France, MacDonell was shot down by the German ace Werner Mölders. He baled out and was taken prisoner. Freed in April 1945, he received a Mention in Despatches for distinguished services while a PoW.
 
MacDonell was made CB in 1964 and retired from the RAF on 15 November 1964 as an Air Commodore. He was a long serving Chairman of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association and died on 7 June 1999.
 
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Question 42

Pilot Officer John Francis Durham Elkington

Accepted Answer

“Tim” Elkington, as he was known from birth, came into the world in 1920 in Warwickshire.  He entered RAF College, Cranwell in September 1939, as a Flight Cadet.
 
On 14 July 1940 Elkington received a permanent commission, and the next day he joined No 1 Squadron at Northolt. He underwent further training with the Northolt Sector Training Flight during the second half of the month and on the 27th made his first operational flight.
 
He destroyed a Bf 109 on 15 August. His combat report for that event read: “I was Green 2 of Squadron 1. When patrolling due east from Martlesham at 10,000 feet, an Me 109 approached me from head-on and to the left 1,000 feet below. The e/a started to climb and turn to the left but I turned sharp left and came in behind him and gave him one short burst with no known effect.
 
“I again fired at the e/a from astern as it straightened out and went into a steep climb. I gave it a 2 second burst from astern and above. The engine of the e/a belched fumes and it turned over on its back, staying there for about 2 seconds. I then circled round and saw no one get out.” 
 
The next day Elkington was in Flight Sergeant Berry’s section when the squadron was ordered off to patrol Portsmouth. A large force of enemy aircraft was encountered and Elkington’s Hurricane was hit by a cannon shell in the starboard fuel tank and burst into flames.
 
He baled out near the Nab light, east of the Isle of Wight. Berry followed him and with his slipstream he blew Elkington over land at West Wittering. Elkington was taken to hospital at Chichester; his aircraft crashed and burned out at Manor Farm, Chidham. Flight Sergeant Berry, DFM was killed in action on 1 September.
 
Elkington rejoined No 1 Squadron on 1 October. He probably destroyed a Ju 88 on the 9th and shared in the destruction of a Do 215 on the 27th.
 
He became an instructor in April 1941 but joined No 601 Squadron in late May, moving on in July to No 134 Squadron, which was then re-forming for service in Russia. The squadron embarked on HMS Argus and on 7 September flew to the airfield at Vaenga, near Murmansk.
 
During September and early October, 134 took part in bomber escorts and airfield defence. In mid-October it began training Russian pilots on Hurricanes, which were handed over at the end of the month. While in Russia Elkington shared in the destruction of a Ju 88.

In mid-November 1941, the squadron pilots began the journey home, making their way in three minesweepers to Archangel and sailing from there in HMS Berwick. Elkington returned in the MV Empire Baffin, carrying minerals as part of Convoy QP 3. He was escorting an injured pilot.
 
Tim Elkington had a number of further operational postings, including in India. He returned to the UK in October 1946 and retired from the RAF in December 1975 as a Wing Commander. In 2014 Elkington received the Ushakov Medal from the Russian Ambassador in London.
 
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Question 43

Pilot Officer Ian James Muirhead

Accepted Answer

Muirhead was born in 1913 at West Ham, but his family later moved to Carlisle. He was educated at Nelson School, Wigton and joined the RAF in September 1929 as an Aircraft Apprentice, passing out in August 1932.
 
He was later selected for pilot training, and after qualifying he served with No 151 Squadron. He was promoted to Flight Sergeant in October 1939 and commissioned in April 1940.
 
Muirhead joined No 605 Squadron at Wick on 6 April. On the 10th he damaged a He 111.
The squadron moved south to Hawkinge during the Battle of France. Muirhead destroyed a He 111 and damaged another on 22 May, destroyed a Hs 126 and two Ju 87s on the 25th and destroyed a Bf 110 on the 26th. On this day Muirhead was patrolling Dunkirk when he was shot down. He baled out, was rescued from the sea and admitted to hospital. Muirhead did not return to 605 until 15 July. He was awarded the DFC.
 
He claimed a He 111 destroyed on 15 August and shared a Do 17 on 24 September. He was appointed ‘B’ Flight Commander on the 29th and promoted to acting Flight Lieutenant shortly afterwards.
 
Muirhead was shot down in combat with Bf 109s over south London on 7 October and baled out, unhurt. His Hurricane crashed and burned out at Bexley. In the action he damaged a Bf 109.
 
Eight days later Muirhead was shot down and killed by Bf 109s over Maidstone. His aircraft crashed at Spekes Bottom, Darland, near Gillingham. He was 27.
 
He is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Holme Cultram, Cumberland.
 
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Question 44

Sergeant Josef Frantisek

Accepted Answer

Frantisek enlisted in the Czech Air Force in October 1930. When the Germans entered Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939, he is said to have machine-gunned columns of troops before flying to Poland.
 
He joined the Polish Air Force in March 1939 and became a flying instructor. After the German invasion of Poland he appears to have flown reconnaissance sorties.
 
When Poland fell, Frantisek escaped to Romania, where he was interned. Once he was free he made his way to France via the Balkans and Syria, arriving there in early May 1940.
After the collapse of France, Frantisek arrived in England. He joined No 303 Squadron at Northolt on 2 August 1940, converting to Hurricanes with the squadron.
 
Frantisek is normally considered to be the highest scoring Allied pilot in the Battle of Britain, with 17 victories. On 2 September he claimed a Bf 109 destroyed, on the 3rd another, on the 5th a Bf 109 and a Ju 88, on the 6th a Bf 109, on the 9th a Bf 109 and a He 111, on the 11th two Bf 109s and a He 111, on the 15th a Bf 110, on the 18th a Bf 109, on the 26th two He 111s, on the 27th a He 111 and a Bf 110 and on the 30th a Bf 109 and probably another. Awarded the DFM on 17 September, he received his decoration from King George Vl at Northolt on 20 September. His portrait was done by Cuthbert Orde that month.
 
During a patrol on 8 October 1940, Frantisek was killed when his Hurricane crashed at Cuddington Way, Ewell, Surrey. He is buried in Northwood Cemetery, Middlesex.
 
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Question 45

Pilot Officer Geoffrey Edward Morris

Accepted Answer

Morris was born on Boaz Island, Bermuda, in April 1917. He went to school in London and became a bank clerk.
 
In April 1940, Pilot Officer Morris joined the newly-formed Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere. Its function was to develop the use of airborne intercept radar (AI) for the interception of enemy aircraft at night and to devise the best tactics for using the equipment.
 
On the night of 23 July, the unit achieved success when a Blenheim of FIU took off from Tangmere and shot down a Do17 over the Channel, having intercepted it and gained a visual sighting using the new equipment.
 
According to Men of the Battle of Britain: “This was the first time that such a feat had been accomplished. The names of Flying Officer Ashfield, the pilot, and his two AI operators, Pilot Officer Morris and Sergeant Leyland, will never be found among the lists of the famous and yet what they did that night had a greater effect on the future of air warfare than anything else that occurred in the whole of that summer.”
 
Although trained as an observer, Morris flew operationally with FIU, operating the AI.
In September 1941 Morris became an instructor and then undertook control duties at Kenley.
 
Geoff Morris received a permanent commission in September 1945. He served in Palestine and held various staff appointments. His final posting was as OC RAF West Drayton.
 
On 29 May 1970 Morris retired from the RAF as a Wing Commander. He died in 2010.
 
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Question 46

Flight Lieutenant Billy Drake

Accepted Answer

Drake was born in 1917 and really was Christened “Billy”. In later life he attributed this to his Australian mother’s familiarity with such terminology as “billycan”. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in 1936.
 
Drake was serving with No 1 Squadron (Hurricanes) when war broke out, and went with the squadron to France. He was credited with a number of victories, but on 13 May 1940 he baled out wounded, was admitted to a French hospital and was then treated in hospital in England.
 
He was posted to 6 Operational Training Unit, Sutton Bridge on 20 June 1940 as an instructor. He flew a patrol with No 1 Squadron on 15 August and was posted to No 213 Squadron on 2 October. He was appointed to command ‘A’ Flight on the 7th. His last flight with the squadron was on the 21st and it was probably on the 23rd that he joined 421 Flight. After more success he was awarded the DFC at the beginning of 1941.
 
Following a further period as an instructor, Drake reformed and commanded No 128 Squadron in West Africa. He then commanded No 112 Squadron in the Middle East. He continued to destroy enemy aircraft, both in the air and on the ground.
 
During 1942 Drake was awarded a bar to the DFC and then a DSO. He commanded a Spitfire Wing in Malta. Later appointments included the leadership of a Typhoon Wing and Deputy Station Commander at Biggin Hill. In September 1945 he took part in the first Battle of Britain flypast over London. He retired from the RAF in 1963 as a Wing Commander, retaining the rank of Group Captain.
 
Billy Drake had various business interests, lived in Portugal and south Devon and died in 2011.
 
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Question 47

Pilot Officer Phillip Howard Leckrone

Accepted Answer

A number of American volunteers flew in the Battle of Britain, which was fought more than a year before the United States entered the Second World War.
 
Among them was Phillip Anthony Leckrone, from Salem, Illinois. He had learned to fly while still at High School, and owned an aircraft, but had no military flying experience before he came to Britain and joined the RAFVR. In the RAF he was known as “Uncle Sam” or “Zeke”.
 
Pilot Officer Leckrone joined No 616 Squadron on 2 September and was posted to No 71 Squadron at Church Fenton on 12 October 1940, to join other American volunteers in the first Eagle Squadron. On 28 October Leckrone overturned a Brewster Buffalo when landing at Church Fenton. He was admitted to hospital with slight concussion. The squadron did not become operational in time to take part in the Battle of Britain.
 
On 5 January 1941, Leckrone was killed during a formation practice, when he collided with Pilot Officer E E Orbison. He was 71’s first fatality.
 
Leckrone is buried in Kirton-in-Lindsey Burial Ground. Salem-Leckrone Airport, which serves his home city, is named in his honour.
 
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Question 48

Flying Officer Terence Michael Kane

Accepted Answer

Only a small number of Fighter Command aircrew became prisoners of the Germans during the Battle of Britain.
 
One of those was Terry Kane, who was born in September 1920 in London. He was educated at several schools, finishing at Varndean County Grammar School, Brighton. He went to work as a junior clerk with a firm of stock jobbers in the City of London.
 
Kane joined the RAF on a short service commission and began his ab initio course in July 1938. He joined 9 Air Observer School, Penrhos, in what is now Gwynedd, on 27 September 1939, as a staff pilot. Kane spent a period at RAF Farnborough undertaking high-altitude tests. He became an instructor.
 
Kane converted to Spitfires and joined No 234 Squadron at St Eval on 18 September. He shared in the destruction of a Ju 88 on the 22nd.
 
The next day Kane did not return from a patrol. His Spitfire was damaged in combat off the French coast, after he had shot down a Bf 109, and he baled out at 6,000 ft. He was rescued and taken prisoner by the Germans. 
 
He was in several PoW camps, including Stalag Luft 3 in Lower Silesia. Terry Kane was freed in May 1945 and stayed in the RAF until 1950, when he went on to the Reserve of Air Force Officers.
 
He rejoined in April 1954, in the Fighter Control Branch and retired on 29 May 1974 as a Wing Commander. He died on 5 August 2016, aged 95.
 
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Question 49

Sergeant C P Rudland

Accepted Answer

Born in 1915, Rudland joined the RAFVR in March 1939, as an Airman u/t Pilot. Called up at the outbreak of war, he eventually joined No 263 Squadron at Grangemouth on 1 August 1940.
 
He was attached to 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on 5 September and, after converting to Hurricanes, rejoined 263 on 13 September.
 
Commissioned in May 1941, Rudland destroyed two Bf 109s in the air and damaged a Ju 87 on the ground during a sortie in a Whirlwind against Maupertas airfield in France on 6 August that year.
 
He was appointed a Flight Commander later in 1941 and awarded the DFC. He was posted to No 19 Squadron at Perranporth in September 1942, again as a Flight Commander.
Rudland was detached to Vickers-Supermarine, Southampton, in December, for test pilot duties, remaining there until October 1943. He joined No 131 Squadron in November as a Flight Commander.
 
He was promoted to acting Squadron Leader in August 1944 and given command of No 64 Squadron at Harrowbeer. He was posted away in March 1945, to be Wing Commander Flying at Andrews Field, Essex. He was awarded a Bar to the DFC.
 
From May to August 1945 Rudland served at HQ No 11 Group and then went on a course at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
 
Rudland returned to the UK in November 1945 and was released from the RAF later in the month, as a Wing Commander. He served in the RAFVR from 1946 to 1951. He died in March 1996.
 
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Question 50

Pilot Officer Michael Giles Homer

Accepted Answer

Homer came from Swanage, Dorset and was at Wellington College from 1933 to 1936. He became a Flight Cadet at the RAF College, Cranwell, in January 1937. He graduated and received a permanent commission on 17 December, going on to join No 106 Squadron at Thornaby. Homer was with No 44 Squadron by 10 February 1940, flying Hampden bombers from Waddington.
 
On 12 April he carried out a high-level bombing attack on German warships in Kristiansand Bay, Norway. He maintained his bombing run in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire and attacks by enemy fighters, one of which his air gunner shot down. Homer then got his damaged aircraft back to base. For this operation, Homer was awarded an immediate DFC.
 
In August, Michael Homer volunteered for Fighter Command. He was sent to 5 OTU, Aston Down, converted to Hurricanes and was posted No 1 Squadron at Northolt, arriving on 2 September.
 
After damaging a Do 17 near Tilbury on the 7th, Homer was posted to No 242 Squadron at Coltishall on 21 September. He was shot down and killed on the 27th, when he crashed in flames at Bluetown, Mintching Wood, Milstead, near Sittingbourne.
 
Homer was 21. He is buried in Godlingston Cemetery, near Swanage. There is a memorial plaque at the crash site, dedicated on 27 September 1990.
 
Michael Homer appears in a much-published photograph of pilots of 242 with a Hurricane. This is often captioned as having been taken in October 1940, which cannot be correct, given the presence of Homer.
 
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Question 51

Flight Sergeant Fred Percy Burnard

Question 52

Flying Officer John Reynolds Cock

Question 53

Wing Commander David Neal Roberts

Question 54

Flying Officer Petrus Hendrik Hugo

Question 55

Petty Officer William Eric John Stockwell

Question 56

Squadron Leader Andrew Thomas Smith

Question 57

Pilot Officer Victor Breton de la Perelle

Question 58

Sub Lieutenant Henry la Fone Greenshields

Question 59

Flight Lieutenant Percival Stanley Turner

Question 60

Sergeant Leslie Arthur Edwin Reddington

Question 61

Sergeant Donald Ernest Kingaby

Question 62

Flight Lieutenant Norman Lancelot Ievers

Question 63

Sergeant Paul Caswell Powe Farnes

Question 64

Squadron Leader Sir Archibald Philip Hope Bt

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