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.
Information about other airfields across the country can be found on the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust website.
On 27th January, 1919 Jackson-Barstow was ferrying Sopwith Dolphin F7307, from Folkestone to RAF Kenley, when he was caught in a heavy snow storm. Visibility was bad when he crashed into a bank at Marden Park, south-east of the airfield. He died instantly.
Having survived as a fighter pilot with 64 Squadron at Kenley during the Battle of Britain, Adrian Laws tragically lost his life on the 30th September 1940 in a mid-air collision, while stationed at RAF Leconfield.
We lived in 9 Anson Close while I was stationed at Kenley between 1963 - 1966. During our time there, it was being continually worked on by the Ministry of Public Building and Works.
