On 2nd October 1919, Flying Officer Frederick Hubert Guy Shepard AFC, of No.1 Communication squadron, Kenley, lost his life when his DH4 bi-plane, (K5783), suffered a mechanical failure during a flight to the North-East of England, and crashed in the Newcastle area.
On 4th November, 1920, Flying Officer Harold Olver Prout AFC and his observer, Flying Officer Horace Edgar Fenwick, were on the return leg of a trip to Winchester when they arrived back at Kenley, at 5pm, to find the airfield shrouded in thick fog....
On 4th November, 1920, Flying Officer Harold Oliver Prout AFC and his observer, Flying Officer Horace Edgar Fenwick, were on the return leg of a trip to Winchester when they arrived back at Kenley, at 5pm, to find the airfield shrouded in thick fog.
Leroy served with distinction during the Great War and was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1919. Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb remembered Trapagna Leroy as a "remarkable character."
On 1st March 1929, Flying Officer Patrick Nelson Sealy-Allin, of No.23 squadron, lost his life when his Gloster Gamecock collided with another flown by Ft/Sgt James Guy Freeman
On 15th July, 1930, Flying Officer Peter Bagwell Rogers of No.23 Squadron, lost control of his Gloster Gamecock Mk.I (J7894) and spun into the ground at Gedney Dawsmere, near Holbeach Ranges, Lincolnshire, during gunnery practice.
24 year old son Peter got married shortly before his death on 14th of August 1940, when he failed to return from an interception patrol. His wife gave birth to a son, also called Peter, in Spring 1941.
F/O George was one of three 64 Squadron pilots lost on 29th May, 1940.
VICTOR OLIVER REYNOLDS was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire in 1892. His Father Acton Reynolds was a journeyman butcher. By 1901, the Reynolds family were living at 22 Castle St, Reading. Victor had two sisters, Cordelia and Dora, and one brother Charles.
On the afternoon of 25th April, 1942, Squadron Leader "Hawkeye" Wells led the Kenley Wing on Circus 137. Group Captain Corner was shot down and baled out too low over the Channel. Having no known grave, he is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.
At 5.28pm, on 13th May, 1987, Henry James "Harry" Lenard, an elderly and inexperienced pilot, was attempting an autotow launch in a Pirat glider...
Junior Technician Richard William Blatch was born in Gosport, the son of Leonard and Winifred Blatch. He died of exposure after being caught in a blizzard while training, in Snowdonia, for a climbing expedition.
Alfred Percy Hall was born on 18th May, 1901, and baptised at St. Matthew's, Northampton. For reasons unknown, he went absent without leave from 31st July, 1924, and it appears that he drowned in unknown circumstances, sometime around 5th August.
Thomas Holroyd was the foster son of Alfred E. and Zoe Colley of Liverpool. He was a Flight Mechanic with No.615 (County of Surrey) Squadron.
Not all the deaths of RAF Kenley related personnel were due to enemy action. One such was the tragic death of Leading Aircraftman William Spirrell in Devon on 7 June 1940.
LAC William John Tanner was the son of William and Emily Tanner, of Old Coulsdon. He was married to V. J. Tanner, of Old Coulsdon.
On 12th September, 1918, Lieutenant Frederick Plummer took off from Kenley in an Armstrong Whitworth FK8, (F3453), on a ferry flight to France. He had ascended to 200ft and started to turn, when a gust of wind caught the aircraft and it lost flying speed and nose-dived into the ground, wrecking the machine and killing Frederick instantly.
Anthony was born in Prestwich in December 1919 and then educated at St. Peters Court, Broadstairs, and Rugby School. He was a proficient sportsman.
Pilot Officer Jenkins was born in May 1919 and was the son of the Revd. Canon William Owen Jenkins, D.D. and Horatia Mary Jenkins, of St. Andrews. Fife.
Frederick Cecil Harrold was born on 17th May 1917, the son of Frederick Charles Harrold and Florence Nightingale Harrold (nee Booth).
John Kenneth Grahame Clifton, (known as "Kenneth"), was born in Plymouth in October 1918. He was the son of John Henry and Susie Dorothy Anderson Clifton. The family moved to Somerset in 1928 where Kenneth was educated at Taunton School.
Michael Robert Mudie joined the RAF on a short service commission in March 1939. On completion of his training he joined the 11 Group Pool in November of that year.