Thomas Emrys Westmoreland, son of Thomas Gladstone Westmoreland, a wine and spirit merchant, and Louisa Ann Westmoreland (nee Bray) was born in Huddersfield on 5th June 1913.
Richard Clare Whittaker was a Suffolk lad, born on 26 November 1919 in Yoxford. After attending Framlingham College, between 1931 and 1937, he joined the RAF on a Short Service Commission in January 1938.