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.”
