Henry was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 28th September, 1887, and baptised at St. Thomas' Church, (now demolished), on 2nd October. He was the eldest of four children born to Edward Critchley, a builder and joiner, and his wife, Mary. Henry followed in his Father's footsteps and was already apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner by 1901, when he was 13 years old.
Michael spent the early year of WWI serving as a Private in the West Yorkshire Regiment, before transferring to the RAF on 3rd June, 1918
For the night of 18th October, 1940, the 615 Operations Book records the death of four airmen as a result of enemy action. They were stationed at RAF Northolt at the time but the Squadron had close connections with Kenley, being the local Auxiliary Squadron, with many personnel drawn from the local area.
Kenley's role as a sector station meant its controllers were involved in the events leading to a tragic accident at Friston, on 18th October, 1941.
Bellman hangars were first designed in 1936. They were intended to be temporary structures, easily assembled and dismantled by unskilled ...
On 1st September, 1940, seven newly-recruited Coldstream Guards were killed when the Guards Training Depot at Caterham was hit by bombs probably intended for RAF Kenley.
By 18th September, 1940, the Luftwaffe's attention was firmly focused on bombing London into submission. This is the story of just one rescue amongst many that took place during this period.
After a period of intense action at Kenley during the summer of 1940, 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron were posted north to Prestwick to rest and re-group. While their memories of their time in Scotland were mostly happy, some of them witnessed a horrific accident which left an indelible mark on them.
Samantha Furmanis kindly contacted us to pass on this wonderful photo of No.615 (County of Surrey) Squadron, which includes her Father, Leading Aircraftman Albert Edward Hart, standing three rows behind Arthur Vere Harvey, the Squadron's Commanding Officer, who is seated in the very centre of the photo.