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.
Leonard John Patterson was the son of John and Nina Patterson of Freeland, Oxfordshire. He was shot down by Me.109's east of Hastings on 28th November, 1940.
On 25th March 1944, 403 squadron RCAF, lost their fourth pilot of the month when F/Lt. Clifford George Pennock blacked out in a climbing turn after pulling out of a dive during a practice bombing run over Kenley airfield.
On 31st March, 1954, Sergeant Francis Jack Pink died in unknown circumstances while serving at RAF Kenley.
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.
Joseph Louis Osias Primeau was born 12th May, 1920, in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, Canada. During his Initial training for the RCAF, it was noted that he was: "One of a large family who has had to work hard for what he got."
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 28th March, 1942, Warrant Officer Rudolf Ptacek of 602 Squadron, RAF Kenley, was reported missing after a "Rodeo" fighter sweep. It was assumed that he had been shot down in the Calais area during a huge dogfight with a large number of FW190's.
