Done – They Were There – Blood, Toil, Tears & Sweat

10 September 2020

WEST, Ferdinand (#28)

Air Commodore Ferdinand ‘Freddie’ WEST VC CBE MC Recipient of the Victoria Cross. RFC & RAF, Captain Royal Munster Volunteers, 3 and 8 Sqns, last Air action, 17 Sqn, OC 4 Sqn WW1 VC Sqn, CO Farnborough, in WW2 Odiham & Air Attaché Berne

2 September 2020

ATKINS, George (#3)

Corporal ‘Tommy’ George ATKINS Nos 1(F) & 43(F) Sqns, in pre-war motor industry serviced BATTLE OF BRITAIN HURRICANES, SPITFIRES in ITALY & 1944/45 LANCASTERS One of many GROUND TECHNICIANS who played a vital role throughout.

1 September 2020

OLDS, Robin (#97)

Brigadier General Robin OLDS AFC DSM* Silver Star (4) Legion of Merit DFC (6) AM (40) DFC (UK) Croix de Guerre (45 e/a) ‘Triple Ace’ for US, USAAF & 8th AIR FORCE (12 e/a, 9 in P-38s, 3 in P-51 +11 strafed); and in Vietnam 1967 destroyed 4 MiG 21/17 in F-4 aged 44 (son of Major General Robert OLDS WW1)

30 August 2020

ALABASTER, RC (#57)

Wing Commander R C ‘Cliff’ ALABASTER DSO* DFC* (Subsequently contributed to the development of POSTWAR AVIATION, then as pilot Captain, Comets & BOAC) Representing OBSERVERS, the PATHFINDER FORCE, and 1943 PEENEMUNDE RAID (Operation Hydra)

30 August 2020

REID, William I (#61)

Flight Lieutenant William I REID VC Recipient of the Victoria Cross. AFVR Scot in hit LANCASTER 3NOV43, twice attacked, with dead Navigator and fatally wounded WIRELESS OPERATOR, stuck to course, bombed target & returned to base semi-conscious.

30 August 2020

LLOYD-OWEN, David (#273)

Major-General David LLOYD-OWEN CB DSO OBE MC “Danger has some kind of satanic appeal to me. I am drawn towards it in an octopus-like grip of fear.” (Telegraph) Queen’s Royal Reg’t N AFRICA & 1941 LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP (OC) 1943-45 wounds Kufra, LRDG base, LEROS & ops Corfu, Yugoslavia & Albania (bks). “Despite being in continual pain, Lloyd Owen directed special forces operations in the mountains for the next three months. Eventually he was evacuated to Italy, was successfully operated on, and told not to return to his former activities. He managed to bluff his way past a medical board and returned to Albania, although this time by boat.” (Wikipedia). “A man of great charm…a courageous soldier and a remarkable leader of men.” (Guardian).

30 August 2020

KENNEALLY, John Patrick (#275)

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30 August 2020

GOULD, Thomas W (#94)

Lieutenant Thomas W GOULD VC RNVR Recipient of the Victoria Cross. Submariner, one of three Jewish servicemen who received the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. Father killed WW1 1916, RN 1933-37 & SUBMARINES to 1945. VC won I6 Feb 42 with Lt ROBERTS removing bombs HMS THRASHER. Representing JEWISH EX-SERVICEMEN’S LEAGUE

30 August 2020

DAUNCEY, Michael DK (#110)

Brigadier Michael DK DAUNCEY DSO A Bridge Too Far. Flew a Horsa glider into Arnhem for Operation Market Garden, blinded in one eye, taken prisoner, escaped and hid for four months. Recommended for a Victoria Cross at 4 levels but Field Marshal Montgomery withheld. For: CHESHIRE REGT, ARNHEM & GLIDER PILOT REGIMENT and infantry valour.

30 August 2020

BURN, Michael C (#86)

“I saved her life in the war… and later she became ‘Audrey Hepburn'” “Michael Burn was one of the last survivors of the naval commando raid on St Nazaire, after which he was captured and imprisoned […]

30 August 2020

ERCOLANI, Lucian (#215)

Wing Commander Lucian Ercolani was a wartime bomber pilot decorated three times for gallantry in operations over Europe and in the Far East; he was later chairman of the family furniture company Ercol.

30 August 2020

BARKER, John Lindsay (#307)

Air Vice Marshal John Lindsay BARKER CB CBE DFC (Father at JUTLAND). Army Co-op 26 Sqn, BEF, OC 241 Sqn HURRICANES, WAR CABINET Plans, OC 625 Sqn LANCASTERS inc. OP MANNA, TIGER Force HK

30 August 2020

BABINGTON-SMITH, Constance (#180)

Flight Officer Constance BABINGTON-SMITH MBE Legion of Merit FRSL Leading wartime PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETER (IMAGERY INTELLIGENCE) with brilliant V-1 ramps discovery & much else Representing PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE, vital in ground, naval & air operations

29 August 2020

van ERP, Johannes ‘Jan’ (#159)

Johannes 'Jan' van Erp voluntarily and persistently carried out an unsaid guard duty for an exhausted Bren Gun & Anti-Tank Carrier Crew of L/Cpl Jack ‘Tubby’ Pratt, Horace ‘Chip’ Read and Bill Holden, who had just lost, killed, an unreplaced No.3 member on their liberation advance with the Royal Norfolk Regiment into Helmond, demonstrated the spirit of friendship in adversity and the resistance of the people of the Netherlands.

29 August 2020

CALVERT, J Michael (#152)

“Frequently leading attacks from the front, earning him the nickname ‘Mad Mike’, Calvert was ‘a tremendous leader of men; quite careless of his own danger” “MICHAEL CALVERT, who survived both the Chindit expeditions into Burma, was […]

29 August 2020

BRIDGE, John (#154)

154 Lieutenant Commander John BRIDGE GC GM* RNVR (Navy) Top BOMB & MINE DISPOSAL expert: clears 100 bombs in PLYMOUTH

29 August 2020

WINSKILL, AL (#208)

Air Commodore Sir AL ‘Archie’ WINSKILL KCVO DFC* AE: 603 SQN,1st via PAT O’LEARY LINE to SPAIN/GIBRALTAR. led 232 Sqn to N.AFRICA, CFI CGS, OC 17 SQN Japan Representing ESCAPE NETWORKS

29 August 2020

TUCK, RR Stanford (#9)

Wing Commander RR Stanford TUCK DSO DFC** (27+e/a) 65, 92, OC 257 Sqns, Duxford & Biggin Hill Wgs. Representing PRISONERS of WAR & 50 Stalag Luft III Escapees killed, including ‘Big X’, 92 Sqn OC Squadron Leader Roger BUSHELL

29 August 2020

TOWNSEND, Peter W (#12)

Group Captain Peter W TOWNSEND CVO DSO DFC* (11+e/a) 36, 43, OC 85 & 605, 611 Sqns Battle of Britain, on day & night fighters, Stn Cdr West Malling & Drem, Equerry HM King George VI 1944-52, HM The Queen, Elizabeth II R 1950-53

29 August 2020

PIPER, AH (#5)

Squadron Leader AH ‘Peter’ PIPER DFC 236 Squadron BLENHEIMS. Peter re-trained as a pilot and flew transport supply. Representing all other aircrew, and non-fighter aircraft types, in and beyond the BATTLE OF BRITAIN.

29 August 2020

LISKUTIN, Miroslav A (#130)

Squadron Leader Miroslav A ‘Tony’ LISKUTIN DFC RAF, fighter pilot and later post-war RAF & civilian flying instructor In memory of friends FRANTISEK, KUCERA & SMIK and representing all CZECHOSLOVAKS + 511 Czechoslovak WW2 airmen killed.

29 August 2020

LAFONT, Henri Lucien (#160)

Colonel Henri Lucien LAFONT Cdr Légion d’Honneur, Comp. de la Libération, G.Off de l’Ordre de Mérite, Croix de Guerre Dramatically escaped Vichy-held Algeria for England, flew HURRICANES, one of 13 French pilots in the BATTLE of BRITAIN. 1938-65 L’Armée de l’Air & RAF 245, 615, 341 Alsace Sqns. In memory of his friends Commandant René MOUCHOTTE, Bernard DUPÉRIER, and some 300 FRENCH pilots killed in the war.

29 August 2020

LACEY, James (#7)

World War Two fighter pilot James Harry "Ginger" Lacey is being honoured with a blue plaque this weekend at his birthplace - now the site of a German-owned supermarket. While WW2 pilots like Douglas Bader and Guy Gibson became household names, Lacey's story is less well known.

29 August 2020

KELLETT, Ronald G (#29)

Wing Commander Ronald G KELLETT DSO DFC VM AE* RAF Flying Ace. Representing Auxiliary Air Force & Polish contribution: Nos 600, 616, 249 Sqns, founding OC 303 Polish Squadron, the most successful Battle of Britain Squadron & OC 96 Sqn