When Flight Lieutenant John Trull's engine failed over Lille on 20th February, 1944, he must have wondered if he would live to see another day, let alone marry his sweetheart...
William Wallace Anderson enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) two days after his first wedding anniversary.
On Saturday 4 April, 1942, New Zealander Pilot Officer Fox, known as ‘Dene’, was 21 years old with 259 flying hours to his credit. He had been posted to 485 Squadron RNZAF the previous month and was still a novice at operational flying.
Fred Chandler was the eldest son of Edward and Evelyn Chandler and grew up in Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand.
Tadeusz Nastorowicz hailed from Lodz in Poland, being born there on 1 May 1914. Little information is available on his early and any service with the Polish Air Force.
My father, Ronald Parsonson, volunteered for the RAF when war broke out . He was prompted to join the RAF by his school friend and tennis partner Robert (Bob) Palmer who was later awarded a posthumous VC.
A love letter with a difference from Kenley's best-known Wing Leader - James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson - the RAF's top-scoring fighter pilot of World War II.
On the afternoon of Thursday 26 March 1942 485 Sqn (RNZAF) flew on Ramrod 17 from Kenley to Tangmere to escort a bombing raid to Le Havre. The Squadron’s Operations Record Book described the operation as a success but on the return leg they encountered enemy aircraft.
Charles Frederick Richard Manning was born to Frederick Richard Manning and Jessie Matilda Caroline (nee Minns) on 22 October 1920, in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria.
William Douglas Willis, the son of Henry Samuel and Alice Margaret (nee Nice) Willis, was born in South Yarra, Victoria on 26 April 1917.
On 8th October, 1926, Sergeant Major 1st Class Erik Gutzeit Haug, of No.56 Squadron, Biggin Hill, lost his life when his Gloster Grebe Mk.II veered off the runway during take-off at Kenley.
On 20th July, 1927, Pilot Officer Richard Griffith Pace of 32 squadron, Kenley, became the first pilot to lose his life at Holbeach ranges, The Wash, Lincolnshire, when his Gloster Gamecock (J7907) crashed during target practice. He was only 22 years old.
