Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) Officers 1939-1945 -- C

Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) (RAF(VR)) Officers
1939-1945

Looking for details on a RAF(VR) officer not listed here yet?
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For detailed biographies of key RAF personnel (Air Commodore and higher) there is already an excellent website: www.rafweb.org
Only RAF officers of ranks below Air Commodore will be shown here.

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Cakebread,
John Robert Gordon
J.R.G. Cakebread
Married Clare (née ...); two daughters.
18.04.1922
-
30.10.2007
Oulton Broad

F/Sgt.
? [1262905]

P/O (prob)
27.10.1943 [161652]

P/O
27.04.1944

(WS) F/O
27.04.1944

(WS) F/Lt.
27.10.1944

F/Lt.
27.04.1947 (retd 01.09.1961)

DFC
17.07.1945
?

27.10.1943

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

(1945)

115 Squadron RAF

22.08.1946

extended service commission, RAF

30.12.1948

permanent commission, RAF

07.09.1949

transferred, Technical (later: Engineer) Branch, RAF

Cameron,
David Peacock Robertson
D.P.R. Cameron

?
-
20.05.1945
[Edinburgh (Morningside) Cemetery, E.856]

F/Sgt.
? [1368808]

P/O (prob)
18.09.1944 [186773]

P/O
18.03.1945

(WS) F/O
18.03.1945

18.09.1944

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

?
-
20.05.1945
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, No. 20 Operational Training Unit RAF (killed in action while their Wellington X [NC594 A1-W]] crashed during an air test into a house on take off from RAF Lossiemouth)

Cameron,
Frederick John Alastair
F.J.A. Cameron
Son of Alastair and Mary Addison Cameron, of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire; husband of Helen (Curits) Cameron.
05.09.1916
Mayfair, London
-
19.08.1940
(flying accident) [age 23]
[Chilbolton (St Mary The Less) Churchyard, near NW corner of churchyard ]

P/O
? [79525]

pilot of an Avro Anson

Chave,
Owen Cecil
O.C. Chave (Photo courtesy of Mr Christopher Chave, via Mr Martyn R. Ford-Jones)
Son of Capt. Sir Benjamin Chave, KBE (1870-1954), and of Lady Rachel Agnes Chave (née Morgan), of Highfield, Southampton.
Husband of Joan Chave (née Sanders); three children.
29.04.1912
Southampton district, Hampshire
-
14.02.1943
(KIA) [age 30]
[Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium, collective grave 10.E.2-8]
[commemorated at Great Ballard School Roll of Honour
1939/45]

Acm. ?
10.01.1937 [741000]

Sgt.
?

P/O (prob)
05.08.1940, seniority 30.07.1940 [82955]

P/O
05.08.1941

(WS) F/O
05.08.1941, seniority 30.07.1941

(WS) F/Lt.
05.08.1942, seniority 30.07.1942

04.08.1936
-
09.01.1937
joined RAF Reserve (Class F, Section II)

10.01.1937
-
04.08.1940
served in the ranks, RAFVR

05.08.1940

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

1939
-
late 1942
RAF South Cerney (near Cirencester, Gloucestershire), ending up as Flight Commander, C Flight, No. 3 Service Flying Training School

late 1942
-
14.02.1943
pilot, 15 Squadron RAF (Bourn)
[Stirling I BF448 LS-T shot down by a night-fighter flown by Ofw Fritz Schellwat of 5./Nachtjagd- Geschwader 1 crashing at Helchteren, Belgium]

Published: (under pseudonym Ariel) Winged victory : poems of a Flight Lieutenant (1942)

Chichester,
[Sir] Francis Charles
F.C. Chichester

Younger son (there were later two daughters) of Charles Chichester, vicar of Shirwell, seventh son of the eighth baronet, and his wife, Emily Annie, the daughter of Samuel Page, of Chitt's Hill, Wood Green, London.
Married 1st (1923) Muriel Eileen Blakiston (died 1929); two sons (one stillborn, the other died in 1967).
Married 2nd (1937) Sheila Mary Craven; one son.

biography
17.09.1901
Shirwell, Devon
-
26.08.1972
Plymouth

P/O (prob)
11.02.1941 [61089]

F/O (prob)
11.08.1941

(WS) F/O
11.02.1942

(T) F/Lt.
01.07.1944 (reld 10.02.1954; retaining rank of F/Lt.)

KBE
28.01.1967

for individual achievements and sustained endeavour in the navigation and seamanship of small craft

CBE
01.01.1964
for services to yachting

Education: infants' school, Barnstaple; preparatory schools, Ellerslie & Bournemouth; Marlborough College
Emigrated to NZ, 12.1919; Director, Godwin Chichester Aviation Co. Ltd, 1927-1930; second pilot to fly solo, England-Australia, 1929; NZ (Territorial) AF, 1930; first E. to W. solo flight from New Zealand to Australia across Tasman Sea, 1931 (Johnston Memorial Trophy for 1931, for navigation); first long-distance solo seaplane flight (NZ-Japan), 1931; cruising flight in Puss Moth with one passenger Sydney to London via Peking, 1936.

11.02.1941

commissioned, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

1943
-
1945
Senior Navigation Instructor, Empire Central Flying School

1945
-
10.02.1954
Emergency List, RAFVR

Chairman, Francis Chichester Ltd, Map and Guide Publishers since 1945; air navigator and pilot; yachtsman. Fellow, Institute of Navigation (FIN).
Director, Straight Aviation Training Ltd, 1946-1949. Ex-Warden, Guild of Air Pilots and
Air Navigators; winner of first Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Yacht Race, Plymouth-New York, 1960; awarded Yachtsman of the Year Trophy, 1960; record solo East-West Crossing, Plymouth-New York, 1962; 2nd in Second Solo Trans-Atlantic Yacht Race,
1964; First solo circumnavigation of world via Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn, 1966-1967 (fastest true circumnavigation port to port by any small boat: 29,600 miles in 226 days sailing time, Plymouth-Sydney-Plymouth); world speed records for long distance solo sailing: 1966, in Gipsy Moth IV; 1971, in Gipsy Moth V (1,017.75 miles in 5 days). Trustee, National Maritime Museum, 1965-1970; Vice-President, RGS, 1970; Honorary Vice-President, Cutty Sark Society, 1967. Freeman of Barnstaple, Devon.
Vice-President, Institute of Navigation, 1964; Younger Brother of Trinity House, 1968. Membre d'Honneur, Yacht Club de France, 1967 (Special Centenary Award, 1967). Hon. Master of Bench, Middle Temple, 1967. Special Gold Medal, RGS; Institute of Navigation Gold Medal, 1961; Special Award, Inst. of Navigation; Superior Achievement Award, American Inst. of Navigation; Aust. Inst. of Navigation Gold Medal, 1967. Marconi Memorial Medal of Honour, NY, 1967; Italian Polhena da Bravura, San Remo, 1967; Capitani Coraggiosi, Riposto, Sicily; Blue Water Medal (Cruising Club of America), 1960 and 1967; Special Bronze Medal, and Chichester Award, Royal Yacht Squadron, 1967. Gold Medal, Guild of Yachting Writers, 1967; Medal for Seamanship, Royal Cruising Club, 1967; Livingstone Gold Medal, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 1969.
Published: Navigation Notes for Instructors and Students (Air Ministry), 1941-1943; Solo to Sydney, 1930; Seaplane Solo, 1932 (republished as Alone Over the Tasman Sea, 1946, and in Aviation Classics series, 1965); Ride on the Wind, 1937; Spotters' Hand Book, 1940; AstroNavigation, 1940 (4 parts); Pocket Planisphere, 1941; Pinpoint the Bombers, 1941; Star Recognition, 1941; The Star Compass, 1961; The Sun Compass, 1961; Alone Across the Atlantic, 1961 (published in France, Seul en Course, 1962); Atlantic Adventure, 1962; The Lonely Sea and the Sky, 1964 (memoirs; translated in 8 languages); Along the Clipper Way, 1966; Gipsy Moth Circles the World, 1967 (trans. 13 languages); How to Keep Fit, 1969; The Romantic Challenge, 1971.

Clark,
Denis Elliot Irwin
C.W. Clarke

?
-

(A) P/O (prob)
30.12.1939 [76597]

P/O (prob)
04.02.1940

(WS) F/O (prob)
21.12.1940

(WS) F/O
30.12.1940

(WS) F/Lt.
21.12.1941

(WS) Sq.Ldr.
31.08.1944

DFC
12.01.1943
?

30.12.1939

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

(1943)

15 Squadron RAF

Clarke,
Charles William
C.W. Clarke
Son of Charles and Johan Clarke, of Southampton.
Husband of Kathleen Mary Clarke, of Bitterne, Southampton.
(12?).1910
Southampton
-
13.05.1943
[age 32]
[Amersfoort (Oud Leusden) General Cemetery, The Netherlands, plot 13, row 7, grave 134]

Sgt.
? [1185390]

P/O (prob)
13.03.1943 [144446]

Education: King Edward VI School, Southampton (Watts House, 19.09.1922-29.07.1927)

13.03.1943

first commission, RAFVR [emergency commission]

?
-
13.05.1943
Navigator-Bomber, 50 Squadron RAF
[his Lancaster I bomber (W4762 VN-) had taken off at 23.58 hrs [12.05.1943] at Skellingthorpe on an operation against Duisburg; it was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at 03.32 hrs in the IJsselmeer, 6 km NW of Nijkerk]

Clarke,
Ernest Sumner
E.S. Clarke
Son of Frederick Ernest and Adah Mary Clarke, of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1922 ?
-
30.01.1944
[age 22]
[Barsingerhorn (Kolhorn) Cemetery, The Netherlands, grave 3]]

Sgt.
? [758141]

P/O (prob)
03.08.1941 [107142]

P/O
03.08.1942

(WS) F/O
03.08.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
03.08.1943

MID
?
?

03.08.1941

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

?
-
30.01.1944
pilot, 97 Squadron RAF
[Lancaster III JB535 OF-Q. believed shot down by a night-fighter crashing at Kolhorn]

Cogill,
John Charles
J.C. Cogill
17.07.1920
Tamworth district, Derbyshire / Staffordshire / Warwickshire
-
01.2003
Surrey Northern district, Surrey

Ldg.Acm.
? [1152530]

P/O (prob)
20.06.1942 [123932]

(WS) F/O (prob)
20.12.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
20.06.1944

F/O
01.07.1946, seniority 20.06.1943

F/Lt.
02.07.1946, seniority 20.12.1945

Sq.Ldr.
01.01.1952

W/Cdr.
01.01.1958 (retd 17.10.1968)

DSO
21.09.1945
?

DFC
25.05.1943
?

20.06.1942

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

(1943)

143 Squadron RAF

(1945)

192 Squadron RAF

01.07.1946

permanent commission, RAF (General Duties Branch)

1951
-
?
Commanding Officer, 39 Squadron RAF

Cohen,
Lionel [Frederick William]
"Sos"
L. Cohen

07.06.1875
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
08.1960

P/O (prob)
14.02.1939 [72629]

P/O
19.08.1939

F/O
19.08.1939

Sq.Ldr.
?

(A) W.Cdr.
?

(T) W/Cdr.
01.07.1944

W/Cdr.
? (emgcy ...) (reld 10.02.1954)

DSO
27.07.1918
?

MC
01.02.1917
?

DFC
01.02.1944
?

MID
11.10.1917
?

MID
31.01.1919
?

MID
08.12.1920
?

MID
01.01.1941
?

MID
02.06.1943
?

AM
15.10.1946
?

14.02.1939

commissioned, RAF (Administrative Branch)

...
-
...
...

Collingwood,
William Edward
W.E. Collingwood 14.01.1920
-
10.1989
Peterborough

(T) F/Sgt.
? [751206]

P/O (prob)
05.01.1942 [115636]

(WS) F/O (prob)
01.10.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
05.01.1944

F/Lt. RAF
03.04.1947, seniority 01.09.1945

Sq.Ldr. RAF
01.07.1952 (retd 31.05.1973; at own request)

DFM
23.09.1941
?

served in the ranks RAFVR

(1941)

150 Squadron RAF

05.01.1942

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

03.04.1947

extended service commission, RAF (General Duties Branch)

25.05.1949

permanent commission, RAF (General Duties Branch)

07.09.1949

transferred to RAF (Technical Branch - Signals)

31.05.1973

retired from the Engineer Branch

AMBIM

Connolly,
Christopher
C. Connolly
Married 1st (Kingston-on-Thames) Winifred Cave (divorced?).
Married 2nd Rose Lennon (died 2006) (divorced); one son, one daughter.
1902 ?
Dunbarton, Scotland
-

Acm 2nd cl.
? [998070]

(A) P/O (prob)
10.01.1941, seniority 18.11.1940 [89744]

P/O (prob)
31.01.1941

P/O
10.01.1942

(WS) F/O
31.01.1942, seniority 23.11.1941 (reld 06.12.1945; retaining rank of F/Lt.)

(T) F/Lt.
01.01.1943

MID
01.01.1946
?

10.01.1941

first commission, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

served in India & Burma (1943-1945)

Coxall,
Frank Thomas
F.T. Coxall
(09?).1919
Camberwell district, Greater London
-
1998
Essex

Sgt.
? [921908]

P/O (prob)
10.06.1941 [108044]

P/O
10.06.1942

(WS) F/O
10.06.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
10.06.1943

DFC
16.10.1942
*

* In September, 1942, Flying Officers Grundy and Coxall were captain and navigator respectively of an aircraft detailed to attack a target in Northern France. Owing to adverse weather, it was impossible to locate the target but, as an alternative, a large industrial plant was vigorously attacked. Whilst flying over the objective, at chimney height, bombs were released and several hits obtained. Both these officers have completed many sorties and have always diplayed great determination, combined with a high degree of operational efficiency.

10.06.1941

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

(1942)

88 Squadron RAF (flew from Oulton aerodrome in Norfolk and Swanton Morley at some stage)

Crawley,
Harold Charles
H.C. Crawley (Photo courtesy of Mr Rick Crawley)
Only son of Harry Charles Crawley and Charlotte Elizabeth Crawley of Leamington Spa, Warwicks. Grandson of Charles Chapman, Captain of the SS
Great Britain.
Married; at least one son.
06.01.1901
Warwick, Warwickshire
-
07.1992
Sheffield, Yorkshire

Ldg.Acm.
? [1021495]

(A) P/O (prob)
12.10.1943 [147739]

P/O
12.04.1944

(WS) F/O
12.04.1944 (emcgy) (reld 10.02.1954, retaining rank of F/Lt.)

12.10.1943

first commission, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

Crossley,
Donald Marshall
W.E. Collingwood
Son of Francis Marshall Crossley, and Muriel Crossley, of Hollingbourne, Kent.
(09?).1913
Hollingbourne, Kent
-
24.11.1943
[age 30]
[Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa, Italy, I.B.9]

Ldg.Acm.
? [1253405]

P/O (prob)
10.04.1941 [63455]

P/O
10.04.1942

(WS) F/O
10.04.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
08.01.1943

(A) Sq.Ldr.
1943?

(A) W/Cdr.
1943?

DFC
02.06.1942
?

DFC
25.05.1943
?

10.04.1941

first commission, RAFVR [emergency commission]

(06.1942?)

148 Squadron RAF

(05.1943?)

70 Squadron RAF

1943
-
24.11.1943
104 Squadron RAF

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