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

 

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Tappin,
Herbert Edward
H.E. Tappin H.E. Tappin
H.E. Tappin
Son of ... Tappin, and ... Cotton.
12.06.1918
Southampton, Hampshire
-
09.01.2007
at home (Brighton?)
Sgt. ? [740167]
P/O (prob) 22.12.1940, seniority 27.11.1940 [89304]
(A) Sq.Ldr. ?
W/Cdr. ?
Distinguished Flying Cross DFC 22.09.1942 *
Distinguished Flying Cross DFC 14.04.1944 **
* Flight Lieutenant Tappin who was appointed flight commander in April, 1942, has participated in a number of hazardous operations. He led his squadron in the first sortie during the combined operations at Dieppe, on 19th August, 1942, and although his aircraft was severely damaged, he returned to base safely. Flight Lieutenant Tappin led the squadron in a further three sorties during these operations and' despite the fierce enemy opposition he pressed home his attacks. He has displayed courage and devotion to duty of a high standard.
** Since being awarded the D.F.C. this officer has flown on many more operational sorties, during which he has destroyed one six engine B.V.222 enemy flying boat and two enem.v aircraft. On one occasion, when flying on patrol, Sqn. Ldr. Tappin intercepted and destroyed an He. 177. In the consequent air combat his aircraft was hit by fire from an enemy fighter and damaged. Nevertheless he pressed home another attack on a Ju. 88 which was lost in cloud cover. At all times this officer has shown a magnificent fighting spirit and grim determination, achieving his successes by careful planning and execution of every sortie.
22.12.1940     commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
Started flying, as an N.C.O. pilot, with the R.A.F.V.R. at No.3 E.& R.F.T.S. run by Air Service Training, at Hamble near Southampton.in April 1937. Awarded Pilot's Flying Badge (wings) in May 1938. Moved to 26 E.& R.F.T.S. run by Marshalls Flying School at Kidlington, near Oxford in September 1938. Flying Instructor's Course, November/December 1938 Started instructing 30th December 1938. School at-Kidlington closed on outbreak of hostilities, staff moved to 22 E.F.T.S. at Carpbridge. Instructed at Cambridge until April 1941, when posted to 52 O.T.U. (Hurricane) at Debden. 52 O.T.U. April/May 1941. Posted to 3 Squadron (Hurricane) at Martlesham Heath 2nd June 1941, became Flight Commander in March 1942. Posted to 534 Squadron (Turbinlite) as Hurricane Flight Commander September 1942. Tutbinlite Project abandoned February 1943,,posted to 157 Squadron (Mosquito) at Castle Camps. Became Flight Commander July 1943. Posted from 157 at Predannack, March 1944 to 51 O.T.U. at Cranfield and Twinwood Farm, near Bedford, as W/Cdr Flying. January 1945 posted to Mediterranean to command 108 Squadron (Beaufighter), to learn on arrival that the Squadron was to be disbanded. I spent a short period with 334 (Special Duties) Wing at Brindisi, in Southern Italy, and in March 1945 was posted to Command 256 Squaron (Mosquito) with the Desert Air Force at Forli, iii-Northern Italy. In September 1945 the Squadron moved to Egypt,, from where I returned home in December of that year. In February 1946 1 returned to Cambridge to continue my work with Marshalls as a civilian pilot, where the work was varied and interesting, covering flying-instruction, charter work and testflying on a variety of aircraft, including the Vampire, Venom, Canberra, Valiant, Viscount and Ambassador. I left Cambridge in January 1961 to instruct at The College of Air Training at Hamble, which had been set up by B.E.A. and B.O.A.C., (taking over the Air Service Training facilities) to train new pilots ?,rom scratch, as the supply of ex-service pilots was running short. It proved to be very successful. Retired from Hamble January 1972.
Taylor,
Charles
C. Taylor (Photo courtesy of Mr Michael Taylor) C. Taylor (Photo courtesy of Mr Michael Taylor)
C. Taylor (Photo courtesy of Mr Michael Taylor) 
23.01.1917
-
09.11.2007
Ldg.Acm.
? [1101445]
P/O (prob)
09.04.1943 [150295]
P/O
09.04.1944
(WS) F/O
09.04.1944
(WS) F/Lt.
09.04.1945 (reld 12.02.1947; retaining the rank of Sq.Ldr.)
(T) Sq.Ldr.
12.1945
F/O AuxAF
12.02.1947, seniority 21.12.1946 [91258] 
F/Lt. AuxAF
01.04.1950, seniority 12.04.1948
F/Lt. RAF
01.10.1951 (retd 29.11.1961; retaining the rank of Sq.Ldr.)
F/O RAFVR
07.12.1965 (reld 07.12.1981; retaining the rank of Sq.Ldr.)
Mention in Despatches MID
09.12.1958
Malaya
Qualified as a pilot pre-war with the Civil Air Guard at Barton, Manchester.
1939
-
1942
training & service as an aircraft fitter
1942
-
1943
No. 1 British Flying Training School, Terrell, Texas (USA)
09.04.1943


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



No. 35 Flying Instructors' course, No. 2 Flying Instructors' School



Flying Instructor, RAF Hamilton



posted for a few months to drag drone targets
late 1943
-
1946
208 Squadron RAF (Palestine & Italy)
(1945?)


Officer Commanding "B" Flight
1946


Temp. Wing Commander P1 in Iraq
12.02.1947


appointed to the Auxiliary Air Force
?
-
1951
613 Squadron AuxAF
01.10.1951
-
27.03.1953
short service commission, RAF (General Duties Branch): Chief Flying Instructor to the Manchester University Air Squadron
27.03.1953
-
29.11.1961
permanent commission, RAF (General Duties Branch) (in 1955 posted to Kuala Lumpur, initially as a QFI, and subesequently as Flight Commander of the Prestwick Pioneer Flight of 267 Squadron RAF; from 1958 fighter controller, RAF Patrington)
07.12.1965
-
07.12.1981
served, RAFVR (Training Branch)
Resumed his pre-war employment with Manchester Collieries (where his father had been the Chief Financial Officer). Joined Marshalls 1961, becoming Chief Pilot (1964), retiring in 1981, when he relinquished his RAAF flying commission.
Taylor,
Jack Hardy
J.H. Taylor
Son of Tom Lowe Taylor, and Doris Bates, of Marple, Cheshire.
(09?).1923
Ashton under Lyne district, Cheshire
-
28.02.1945
(KIA) [age 21]
[Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, 26.E.4]
Sgt.
? [1537034]
P/O (prob)
14.03.1942 [123032]
(WS) F/O (prob)
01.10.1942
(WS) F/Lt.
14.04.1944
14.03.1942


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
14.02.1945
pilot, 182 Squadron RAF
[crashed at Lohne; originally buried at Neuer Friedhof Lingen]
Taylor,
William Erwin Gibson
"Bill"
see: RNVR officers' section  
Thorne,
Gordon Kenneth Arthur
G.K.A. Thorne

Son of Arthur Robert Thorne (1883-1964), and Lucy Annie Manfield (1885-1937).
Married (1946, Ismalia, Egypt) Elizabeth H. Rose; ... children (one son?).
17.01.1922
Taunton district, Somerset
-
09.1987
North East Hampshire
Sgt. ? [1385985]
P/O (prob) 21.06.1943 [155496]
(WS) F/O (prob) 21.12.1943
(WS) F/Lt. 21.06.1945
21.06.1943     commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
Thornley,
Walter
W. Thornley (Photo courtesy of Mr David Smith)
Son of Herbert Thornley and of Elizabeth Thornley (née Hayes), of Blackpool.
His brothers, John (Sergeant, The King's Regiment, 13.04.1944) and Herbert (Fusilier, Lancashire Fusiliers, 26.07.1944), also died on service.
(12?).1913
Fylde district, Lancashire
-
31.08.1942
[age 28]
[Marton (St Paul) Church Burial Ground, plot 11, grave 127]
Sgt.
? [565030]
P/O (prob)
08.04.1941 [45716]
P/O
08.04.1942, seniority 08.04.1941
(WS) F/O (prob)
08.04.1942
08.04.1941


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
31.08.1942
pilot
Tidmarsh,
Albert Frederick [D]
A.F. Tidmarsh
Son of Bernard and Mary Ann Tidmarsh, of Birmingham.
Married ((09?).1938, Birmingham district Warwickshire) Elizabeth Bird J. Lucas, of Northfield, Birmingham.
 
1913
Birmingham, Warwickshire
-
09.06.1944
Marston Moor, Wetherby district, West Riding of Yorkshire
(KIA) [age 30]
[Northfield (St Laurence) Churchyard Extension, Warwickshire, D.D.8]
Sgt.
? [850303]
P/O (prob)
18.07.1943 [149066]
(WS) F/O
18.01.1944
Distinguished Flying Cross DFC
19.10.1943
?
18.07.1943


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
(1943)
 

 
 

 
air gunner, 51 Squadron RAF
?
-
13.06.1943
air gunner, 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF
[Halifax II bomber LW295 GV-R took off at 00:37 hrs from Marston Moor for a night exercise but failed to gain height before flying through the upper branches of some eighty foot high trees and crashed, heavily. Four of the crew lost their lives, three were injured. At the time of the accident, slight rain was blowing across the airdfield.]

Tilbury,
Eric Arthur
E.A. Tilbury (Photo courtesy of Mrs Diane Marsh)
Son of Arthur Herbert Tilbury, and Dora Beatrice Haynes, of Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
(12?).1917
Romford district, Essex
-
13.06.1943
(KIA) [age 25]
[Staveren General Cemetery, the Netherlands, I.29]
(T) Wt.Offr.
? [754121]
P/O (prob)
10.06.1942 [127147]
(WS) F/O (prob)
10.12.1942
(A) F/Lt.
1943?
10.06.1942


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
13.06.1943
pilot, 83 Squadron RAF (Wyton)
[returning from a mission to Bochum when his Lancaster Mk. III ED603 OL-O was shot down over the
IJsselmeer, the Netherlands; this aircraft was lost on its first operational trip and had a total of 20 hours; it was airborne - 23:01 - 12th Jun 1943]

Timperley,
Eric
E. Timperley
(09?).1910
Stockport district, Cheshire / Lancashire
-
14.02.1945
(KIA) [age 34]
[Stockport Crematorium, panel 6]
Sgt.
? [1033055]
P/O (prob)
04.05.1943 [146711]
(WS) F/O (prob)
04.11.1943
04.05.1943


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
14.02.1945
pilot, 161 Squadron RAF
[Stirling Mk. IV LK236 MA-Y aircraft on local training flight in poor visibility received dummy attack when attempting to land by P51B Mustang 42-106448 from 383rd FS 364 FG, USAAF. Mustang pilot, F/O T.W. Kiley, misjudged distance and hit tail of Stirling. No survivors from either aircraft. Aircraft crashed at Potton 3 miles east of Sandy, Bedfordshire]
Tod,
Hamish Muir Turner
H.M.T. Tod (Photo courtesy of Mr Hamish L. Tod)
1905 ?
Glasgow
-
(A) P/O (prob)
06.09.1940 [85524]
P/O
06.09.1941
(WS) F/O
02.05.1942
F/Lt.
01.01.1944, seniority 01.07.1943 (emergency list 10.02.1954)
Education: Glasgow Academy (1914-1916)
06.09.1940


first commission RAFVR (Equipment Branch)



Home Service; Iceland; Norway
Tolmie,
Archibald Sinclair
A.S. Tolmie
?
-
Sgt.
? [1821404]
P/O (prob)
22.09.1944 [184925]
P/O
22.03.1945
(WS) F/O
22.03.1945
F/O
07.06.1952 (reld 21.02.1956)
(06.1944)
 
 
flight engineer, 10 Squadron RAF
22.09.1944


first commission, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
07.06.1952
-
21.02.1956 
commissioned, RAFVR (Training Branch)
Towell,
Richard William
R.W. Towell
Son of William John and Maud Kathleen Towell.
Married Margaret Ruth Towell, who served in the WRAF, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex; one daughter.
1915 ?
Dublin, Ireland
-
24.02.1945
[age 30]
[Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany, 6.E.24]
Wt.Offr.
? [977635]
P/O (prob)
10.04.1945, seniority 05.02.1945 [195111]
05.02.195


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
24.02.1945
air bomber, 214 Squadron RAF
[At 7:15 pm Fortress HB805, BU-C piloted by F/O J.M Shorttle DFM took off from Oulton on a window operation over Germany; crashed near Ittenbach, a town east of the Rhine and about 12 km SE from the centre of Bonn]
Townsend,
Francis Eric
A.S. Tolmie
Son of Francis Lea Townsend (1887-...), and Ellen Robinson.
Married Gladys Mary Barton, daughter of Henry Barton, York; one son.
(12?).1920
York, Yorkshire - East Riding / Yorkshire - North Riding / North Yorkshire, Yorkshire - West Riding
-
01.03.1943
(KIA)
[Wadenoijen Protestant Churchyard, The Netherlands, 1.A, collective grave 1]
Sgt.
? [1077243]
P/O (prob)
07.02.1942 [121412]
(WS) F/O (prob)
01.10.1942
Railway clerk.
07.02.1942


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
11.03.1943
pilot, 50 Squadron RAF
[taken off from Skellingthorpe at 19.01 hrs in his Lancaster III [ED592 VN-B] for an operation against Berlin; shot down by a night-fighter, crashing at 23.47 hrs at Wadenoijen, 5 km SW of Tiel, The Netherlands; non of the crew survived]
Tozer,
Thomas Henry
T.H. Tozer
Son of Samuel Tozer, and Ella Louise Beer, of Hayes, Devon.
(06?).1918
St Thomas district, Devon
-
02.04.1942
(KIA) [age 24]
[Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany, collective grave 7.A.7-12]
Ldg.Acm.
? [755160]
P/O (prob)
27.11.1939 [76019]
(A) F/O
?
(WS) F/O
27.11.1940
(WS) F/Lt.
27.11.1941
Mention in Despatches MID
01.01.1941
?
27.11.1939


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
02.04.1942
air gunner, 57 Squadron RAF
[Wellington bomber X3410 DX-? was airborne 21:20 hrs 01.04.1942 for an operation against Hanau; cause of loss and crash site not established.]
Tuppen,
Donald Ralph
D.R. Tuppen
Son of Edward Browne Tuppen and Helena Augusta Tuppen, of Rugby, Warwickshire.
04.03.1918
-
18.09.1940
(MPK) [age 22]
[Runnymede Memorial, panel 10]
Sgt.
? [741312]
P/O (prob)
09.06.1940 [81339]
09.06.1940


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
18.09.1940
149 Squadron RAF (Mildenhall)
[missing presumed killed whilst flying in Wellington IC, R3160 OJ-E, which failed to return from a raid on Le Havre (take-off 1925 hrs 18.09.1940), presumed to have been lost over the Channel]
Turner,
John Charles Sheldon
J.C.S. Turner
Son of Benjamin Charles Sheldon Turner and Mabel Edith Turner.
Husband of Sheila Lee Simmons, of Yattendon, Berkshire.
1914 ?
Canada
-
12.09.1945
(flying accident) [age 31]
[Oxford Crematorium, right hand column]
Sgt.
? [700620]
P/O (prob)
07.03.1940 [77789]
(WS) F/O
07.03.1941
(WS) F/Lt.
07.03.1942
(A?) Sq.Ldr.
?
07.03.1940


commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
?
-
12.09.1945
test pilot
[Turner was on loan to de Havilland as a test pilot and engaged on level speed flying at 20,000ft and dives to 400 m.p.h. 20 minutes after take-off from Hatfield, Hampshire, his de Havilland Vampire F.Mk.I [TG279] was heard diving at very high speed. It emerged from cloud over Greenham Common, Berkshire, diving inverted. It impacted the ground close to the RAF station HQ and disintegrated.]
Turner,
Reginald Thomas Frederick
R.T.F. Turner
Son of ... Turner, and ... McNamard.
(09?).1911
Devonport district,
Devon

-
1995
London
Sgt.
? [1377546]
P/O (prob)
04.11.1941 [114982]
(WS) F/O (prob)
01.10.1942
(A) F/Lt.
?
(WS) F/Lt.
04.11.1943
(WS) Sq.Ldr.
26.05.1945
(A) W/Cdr.
?
Military Cross MC
13.07.1945
distinguished services
Distinguished Flying Cross DFC
01.10.1943
?
Distinguished Flying Cross (USA) DFC(US)
14.06.1946
?
04.11.1941


first commission RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
(1943)

 
120 Squadron RAF
(09.1944)
 
 
299 Squadron RAF (supply droppings for Arnhem)
(1945)


190 Squadron RAF
02.1945
-
07.01.1946
Commanding Officer, 196 Squadron RAF
       

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