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

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

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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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Fahie,
William Cusack
W.C. Fahie
Married (02.06.1945, London) Sen.Cmdr. Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower (22.07.1910-02.03.1947); twin sons.
27.04.1919
Dublin, Ireland
-
06/07.1971
Johannesburg, South Africa

P/O (prob)
29.09.1939 [75521]

P/O
29.09.1940

(WS) F/O
11.03.1940

(T) F/Lt.
01.12.1941

(WS) F/Lt.
30.11.1942

(A) Sq.Ldr.
?

(T) Sq.Ldr.
01.01.1945

(A) W/Cdr.
?

MID
01.01.1943
?

MID
17.09.1943
?

MID
08.06.1944
?

BSM
13.09.1949
?

29.09.1939

first commission, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch)

24.04.1940

transferred, Technical Branch

Falconer,
Hugh Mallory
H.M. Falconer
Residence: (1970) Bournemouth. 12.08.1910
Carlisle district, Cumberland
-

Army:

2nd Lt. 28.08.1930 (removed from the Army for absence without leave 25.07.1932)

RAFVR:

(A) P/O (prob) 06.04.1940 [78696]

P/O (prob) 19.05.1940

P/O 06.04.1941

(WS) F/O 14.05.1941

(WS) F/Lt. 14.05.1942 (reld 21.09.1948; retaining rank of Sq.Ldr.)

(T) Sq.Ldr. ?

Education: Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

28.08.1930 - 25.07.1932 commissioned, Royal Corps of Signals

06.04.1940 commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

? - 29.01.1943 served Special Operations Executive (SOE) as signals officer at Gibraltar [captured 29.01.1943 after landing with two other agents in the Gulf of Hammarnet, Tunisia; they had travelled from Malta on MTB 307 and were engaged on SOE mission Operation Felice II]

29.01.1943 - 05.1945 in German captivity (in concentration camps Sachsenhausen & Buchenwald, being liberated at Tyrol)

Cement engineer.

Farquharson,
James Miller
J.M. Farquharson
Married; four sons, one daughter.
10.06.1922
Kingston, Jamaica
-
25.06.2003
Trinidad and Tobago

Ldg.Acm.
? [1388674]

P/O (prob)
07.01.1943 [133249]

(WS) F/O
07.07.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
07.01.1945 (reld 27.03.1947)

DFC
15.05.1945
* [this and other medals donated to the Military and Aviation Museum in Trinidad and Tobago]

* This officer has completed a large number of sorties over various battle areas in Burma. He has displayed the greatest keenness to engage the enemy and has been responsible for the. destruction of mudh enemy equipment. On one occasion he took part in an attack on a force of Japanese tanks, 13 of which were destroyed. In this spirited action, Flight Lieutenant Farquharson pressed home his attacks with
exceptional determination.

07.01.1943

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

(1945?)

Hurricane pilot, 20 Squadron RAF (Burma)

Fawcett,
James Kenning
J.K. Fawcett
Married ((09?).1948, Dartford district, Kent) Barbara E. Dell. 30.10.1910
Rugby
-
(06?).1972
Newark district, Lincolnshire

F/Sgt. ? [1577735]

P/O (prob) 20.04.1945 [197277]

(WS) F/O 20.10.1945 (emgcy) (reld 30.10.1955)

20.04.1945 commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

bomb aimer/navigator on Lancasters and did his training in Winnipeg, Canada

Feilding,
the Hon. Hugh Richard
H.R. Feilding
Son of Rudolph Edmund Aloysius Feilding, Viscount Feilding (1885-1937) and Agnes Imelda Mary Harding (1885-1937).
Brother of Lt. the Hon. David Charles Feilding, Maj. the Earl of Denbigh, Capt. the Hon. Basil Egerton Feilding & Capt. the Hon. Henry Anthony Feilding, MC.
Married (28.03.1944) Sheila Katharine Bolton (died 10.04.2001), daughter of Brig. Charles Arthur Bolton; one son.
15.07.1920
-
03.04.1996
Yorkshire

Sgt.
? [1162486]

P/O (prob)
05.03.1941 [64882]

P/O
05.03.1942

(WS) F/O
05.03.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
05.03.1943

(A) Sq.Ldr.
(1945?)

MID
14.06.1945
?

Education: Ampleforth College

05.03.1941

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

Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA).

Fenwick,
Charles Raymond
C.R. Fenwick
Son of ... Fenwick, and ... Lambord. 03.11.1920
Louth district, Leicestershire / Lincolnshire / Rutland
-
03.1999
York district, Yorkshire

Sgt. ? [748345]

P/O (prob) 07.09.1940 [85648]

(WS) F/O 07.12.1941

(WS) F/Lt. 07.12.1942 (reld 25.08.1946; retaining rank of Sq.Ldr.)

(T) Sq.Ldr. ?

07.09.1940 commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

29.09.1940 joined 610 Squadron RAF

Figgins,
David Peter
D.P. Figgins
Son of James Forrester Figgins, Lieutenant of the Coast Guard, located in Ireland.
Brother of R.Adm. James Figgins, RN.
Married; two sons.
06.1889
Drogheda, Co Louth
-
11.1979

Army:

2nd Lt.
12.10.1915

Lt.
1916 ? (reld 30.09.1921)

A/Capt.
17.11.1917-10.05.1919

Hon. Capt.
30.09.1921

RAFVR:

(A) P/O (prob)
28.03.1941

P/O
1942? (reld 04.07.1944)

MBE
01.01.1955
New Year 55

12.10.1915

commissioned, The London Regiment

survived gassing at the Battle of Paschendale

01.02.1918
-
10.05.1919
Company Commander, 18th Battalion The London Regiment

Principal school teacher, Belfast.

28.03.1941

first commission, RAFVR (Training Branch)

28.03.1941
-
04.07.1944
training instructor

Principal, Antrim Road Primary School, Belfast.

Finucane,
Arthur John

Son of Henry Thomas Finucane and Dorothy Davies, of Fulham, London.

medal bar at RAF Museum

05.06.1912
Fulham, London
-
16.11.1977
Radcliff Infirmary, Oxford, Oxfordshire

Sgt.
? [1264072]

P/O (prob)
02.01.1942 [118188]

(WS) F/O
02.01.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
02.01.1944

F/O
11.10.1948, seniority 24.07.1946

F/Lt.
19.06.1952 (retd 12.09.1964; own request)

MVO
01.01.1972
New Year 72

DFC
11.02.1944
*

39|45St
?
?

AtlSt
?
?

Def Med
?
?

BWM
?
?

GenSM
?
& clasp "Cyprus"

* As captain of aircraft, Flight Lieutenant Finucane had taken part in numerous operational sorties, invariably displaying skill and courage of a high order. In November 1943, during an anti-submarine sortie in the Bay of Biscay, this pilot's aircraft was attacked by four Junkers 88s. A combat lasting 45 minutes ensured in which the persistent attacks of the enemy aircraft were beaten off by the skilful airmanship of Flight Lieutenant Finucane and the efficient coordination of his crew. Three of the enemy aircraft were damaged. In addition to the distinguished flying by this officer on that occasion and again a month later when he drove off a Focke Wulf 200 from the vicinity of an aircraft dinghy containing survivors, Flight Lieutenant Finucane displayed exceeptional skill in December 1943 when he flew his aircraft safely back having lost a propeller and the use of the port engine. He made a masterly landing in the dark alongside a boat, with the aid of an Aldis lamp.

02.01.1942

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

(1942?)
-
(1944)
flew Sunderlands with 228 Squadron RAF

11.10.1948
-
31.07.1952
short service commission RAF, and transferred to the Secretarial Branch

01.08.1952
-
12.09.1964
permanent commission

Fisher,
Basil Mark
B.M. Fisher
Son of Capt. George Kenneth Thompson Fisher, Norfolk Regiment (died from wounds 1917, aged 38), and Janet Katherine Mary Anson (died 1938).
(12?).1916
Kensington district, Greater London
-
15.08.1940
[age 33]
[Eton (St John) Church Cemetery, Buckinghamshire, grave 41]

P/O
26.01.1938 [72382]

F/O
26.01.1940

Photo courtesy of Mr Dave Cotton

26.01.1938

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

?
-
15.08.1940
pilot, 111 Squadron RAF (Croydon)
[1751 hrs at Selsey Bill, Hurricane P3944 was shot down while on patrol by a Ju-88 and exploded; pilot baled out of burning plane and was killed]

Fisher,
Douglas *
D. Fisher
* uncertain at the moment whether this is his full name or not; even uncertain whether he was RAFVR or RAF
1921 ?
-
18.02.2007
[aged 86]

F/Lt.
?

?

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

29 Squadron RAF

Captain of Caledonian Airways.

Fitzgerald,
Arthur Marcus
A.M. Fitzgerald

Son (with two brothers) of Gerald Fitzgerald, and Harriet McGuire.

13.02.1923
Newport, Monmouthshire
-
28.08.1943
(KIA) [age 20]
[Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany, 9.J.22]

Sgt.
? [1316799]

P/O (prob)
09.06.1943 [148128]

04.04.1941

joined RAF (Oxford Reserve)

1941
-
1942
training in the UK & North America (Turner Field, Carleston Field, Gunter Field and Craig Field)

09.06.1943

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

09.06.1943
-
28.08.1943
207 Squadron RAF (Langar, Nottinghamshire)
[flew 13 operations, first one being 12/13.06 bombing Bochum, a memorable one being 17/18.08 bombing the V-weapons site Peenemünde, and the last one bombing Nuremburg; Lancaster MKIII (ED627), EM-N was shot down by a German nightfighter aircraft, piloted by Hauptmann Ludwig Meister near the town of Schwäbisch Hall, Germany before it had reached its target]

Flack,
Leslie John
L.J. Flack
?
-
1983

Sgt.
? [740145]

P/O (prob)
29.08.1940, seniority 15.08.1940 [84705]

P/O
29.08.1941, seniority 15.08.1941

(WS) F/O
29.08.1941, seniority 15.08.1941

(A) F/Lt.
?

(WS) F/Lt.
29.08.1942, seniority 15.08.1942

(T) Sq.Ldr.
?

AFC
11.06.1942
?

29.08.1940

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

?
-
09.07.1957
on the Emergency List (relinquished commission, retaining the rank of Sq.Ldr.)

Foskett,
Leslie Bernard
R.J.A. Ford 17.08.1921
-

Ldg.Acm.
? [1152499]

P/O (prob)
01.01.1943 [150047]

(WS) F/O (prob)
01.07.1943

(WS) F/Lt.
01.01.1945

F/O
23.01.1946

F/Lt.
01.07.1946

(A) Sq.Ldr.
(1952)

Sq.Ldr.
01.07.1952

W/Cdr.
01.01.1958

Gp.Capt.
01.01.1965 (retd 17.08.1976)

OBE
13.06.1964
HM's birthday 64

AFC
05.06.1952
?

01.01.1943

first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

23.01.1946

extended service, RAF

15.04.1947

permanent commission, RAF (dated 01.07.1946)

Foster,
Joseph Eric Arthur
J.E.A. Foster
Married 1st ((06?).1941, Wigan district, Greater Manchester / Lancashire) Doris Winstanley.
Married 2nd (1950s, London?) Mignonne, a French beautician; no children.

11.11.1903
Hendon district, London
-
26.03.2006
Bishop's Cleeve, Gloucestershire

(A) P/O (prob) 09.03.1940 [77933]

P/O (prob) 20.04.1940

P/O 09.03.1941

(WS) F/O 20.04.1941

(WS) F/Lt. 20.04.1942 (emgcy list) (reld 10.02.1954; retaining rank of Sq.Ldr.)

(T) Sq.Ldr. 1944?

MID 01.01.1946 ?

Education: St Paul's school; Loughborough College.
Worked as a trichologist, while learning to fly, building an aeroplane, and mountaineering.

09.03.1940 commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergengy commission]

? - 14.06.1940 navigator, 38 Squadron RAF
[His Wellington IA bomber [N2953 HD-R] had taken off 22:24 hrs 14.06.1940 from Marham for an operation against the Black Forest. They were shot down over Belgium, Foster fell into a tree, broke both his legs and was captured soon afterwards by German soldiers. Three fellow crew members were also captured, two lost their lives.]

14.06.1940 - 1944? POW in German captivity
[Escaped seven times from POW camps, sometimes dressed as a German officer. He was taken to a German prisoner of war camp at Homark, near the Polish border, and tried to break out by shinning down a fire escape. At Spangenberg Castle, which was surrounded by a moat, he sneaked out disguised as a member of the Hitler Youth. He took a train to Switzerland but was caught during a chase. He was taken to the Polish camp of Schubin, where he spent eight months digging escape tunnels, which guards discovered. He was then taken to Stalag Luft III camp on which The Great Escape was based. He convinced his captors he was insane and was sent home.]

Ran a successful West Country travel agency specialising in Alpine holidays. In retirement the couple moved to Spain (where his wfie died in 1983), returning to Gloucestershire in 1998. Chairman of the parish council of Bishop's Cleeve for many years.
Published: Life hangs by a silken thread : an autobiography (1992).

Fox,
Sidney Horace
S.H. Fox
Son of James Richard Fox, and Annie Clark, of Woking, Surrey.
Husband of Bessie Gwendoline Fox, of Woking.
(12?).1914
Kingston district, Surrey
-
25.10.1942
(KIA) [age 27]
[Nant-le-Grand Communal Cemetery, France, grave 1]

Sgt.
? [741012]

P/O (prob)
05.03.1941, seniority 26.02.1941 [61467]

P/O
05.03.1942, seniority 26.02.1941

(WS) F/O
05.03.1942, seniority 26.02.1942

(WS) F/Lt.
30.09.1942

(A?) Sq.Ldr.
?

DFM
11.02.1941
?

Education: Woking County Grammar School for Boys, Surrey.

05.03.1941

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

(1941)

pilot, 83 Squadron RAF

?
-
25.10.1942
pilot, 103 Squadron RAF

Francis,
Robin Keith
R.K. Francis (Photo courtesy of Mr Ian Scarr) 29.01.1918
Cordoba, La Playosa,
Argentine
-
27.06.1943
(MIA) [age 25]
[Malta Memorial,
panel 7, column 1]

Wt.Offr.
? [964971]

P/O (prob)
01.01.1943 [141729]

DFC
20.06.1944
with effect from 26.06.1943 [posthumously]

Electrician. Served in the Argentine Navy as a 1st Class Electrician, 01.07.1936-01.07.1939.

26.04.1940
-
31.12.1942
volunteered RAFVR (being a British subject, born in Argentine), serving in the ranks before being commissioned; recommended for training as a pilot; awarded his Flying Badge 05.12.1940

01.01.1943

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

?
-
27.06.1943
14 Squadron RAF
[his aircraft Marauder Mk. IA FK363 (G) went missing from a reconnaissance mission]

French,
John Kenneth Gillman
"Ken" / "Paddy"
J.K.G. French (Photo courtesy of Mr Barry Howard) ?
-

F/Sgt.
? [1390866]

P/O (prob)
12.04.1944 [179034]

P/O
12.10.1944

(WS) F/O
12.10.1944

(WS) F/Lt.
12.04.1946

F/O
07.04.1949

F/Lt.
28.04.1952 (reld 07.04.1959)

12.04.1944

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

234 Squadron RAF

66 Squadron RAF

07.04.1949

commissioned, RAFVR (Reconstituted Section) (General Duties Branch)

Fry,
Charles Rawdon Keith
C.R.K. Fry
Son of Charles Rawdon Manders Fry and of Florence Magdalen Fry (née Scudamore), of Seaford, Sussex.
1922 ?
-
04.10.1941
[age 19]
[Horley (St Bartholomew) New Churchyard, Surrey, A.O.3]

Ldg.Acm.
? [1269153]

P/O (prob)
09.07.1941 [101570]

Education: Hailebury College, Hertford

09.07.1941

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

?
-
04.10.1941
610 Squadron RAF

Fry,
Patrick John
"Pat"
P.J. Fry 19.12.1922
-
14.10.2007
Hove, Sussex

Wt.Off.
? [1386077]

P/O (prob)
26.11.1944 [189130]

(WS) F/O
26.05.1945

F/O
30.05.1946, seniority 26.11.1945

F/Lt.
26.05.1948

Sq.Ldr.
01.07.1955 (retd 01.02.1961)

DFC
06.03.1945
*

CdeG
?
**

* Pilot Officer Fry is a keen and competent pilot. He has completed very many operational missions, including numerous attacks on enemy shipping. On a recent occasion he took part in an attack against shipping in the harbour at Den Helder. Opposition was intense. Nevertheless, Pilot Officer Fry pressed home his attack with great courage and determination, setting a very fine example.
** For sinking two German boats on a Bordeaux river, after surprising them by swinging round and flying in over land.

26.11.1944

commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch)

(1945)

236 Squadron RAF

30.05.1946

extension of service for 7 years, RAF (General Duties Branch)

01.10.1950

permanent commission, RAF (General Duties Branch)

Futcher,
Stanley Montague
S.M. Futcher
Son of Montague Adolphus Futcher, and Catherine Vilven May Grose, of Horsell, Surrey.
(06?).1923
Axbridge district, Somerset
-
05.07.1944
(KIA) [age 21]
[Runnymede Memorial, panel 211]

F/Sgt.
? [1320403]

P/O (prob)
10.06.1944 [177861]

Education: Woking County Grammar School for Boys, Surrey.

10.06.1944

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

?
-
05.07.1944
106 Squadron RAF
[Lancaster ME832 ZN-J was airborne 2325 4Jul44 from Metheringham to destroy the flying-bomb storage site at St Leu d'Esserent; crashed 0130 5Jul44 some 2 km SW of the village of St-Germain-la-Poterie (Oise), 8 km WSW from Beauvais.]

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