Royal Air Force Officers 1939-1945 -- N

Royal Air Force (RAF) Officers
1939-1945

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Only RAF officers of ranks below Air Commodore will be shown here in detail. Abbreviations and explanations can be found at the help page.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

J.H. Nancarrow to F.E. Nuttall

Nancarrow,
John Harold
J.H. Nancarrow
Son (with one brother) of Harold Dyke Langdon Nancarrow (1878-1925), and Florence Shepherd (1879-1976).
Brother of Capt. Langdon Nancarrow, Royal Engineers.
Married ((03?).1936, St Austell district, Cornwall) Doris Eileen Jolliffe (25.11.1914 - (06?).1977); four sons, two daughters. 14.05.1914
Willesden district, Middlesex
-
09.2003
East Devon district, Devon

P/O (prob) 12.09.1938 [31195]

F/O 12.09.1939

(T) F/Lt. 01.12.1940

F/Lt. 27.08.1946, seniority 12.09.1942

(T) Sq.Ldr. 01.12.1941

(WS) Sq.Ldr. 01.10.1946

(T) W/Cdr. ...-01.11.1947

W/Cdr. 01.07.1950

Gp.Capt. 01.07.1958 (retd 12.06.1970)

12.09.1938 commissioned, RAF (Equipment Branch)

... - ... ...

Nash,
Horace Alexander
H.A. Nash
Son of Army Capt. Thomas Alexander Nash.
Married (02.05.1936, Gosport district, Hampshire) Ivy Clarissa Cains, daughter of John Courtney Cains, water engineer. 11.05.1910
Hendon district, Middlesex
-

Sgt. ?[366149]

Wt.Offr. ?

P/O (prob) 04.10.1941 [47641]

(WS) F/O (prob) 01.10.1942

(WS) F/Lt. 01.10.1943
06.03.1945, seniority 01.02.1944 [forfeiture of seniority]

F/Lt. 08.05.1947, seniority 01.01.1943

Sq.Ldr. 01.07.1948 (retd 08.05.1957)

MVO 01.01.1952 New Year 52 (piloted Princess Margaret to Italy, Princess Elizabeth to Malta and the Queen to Ireland)

AFC 01.01.1945 ?

(1936) School of Naval Co-operation (Lee-on-Solent)

10.1939 - 1945 loaned to RNZAF:

04.10.1941 commissioned, RAF (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission]

08.05.1947 extended service commission

12.01.1949 permanent commission

12.1950 - 10.1951 Commanding Officer, 24 Squadron RAF

Nash,
Richard Rupert
R.R. Nash (Photo courtesy of Pyers O'Conor Nash)

Married (1936, Dublin) Gertrude Mea Mary O’Conor (21.07.1907 - 27.06.1994); ... children (one son, one daughter?). 20.06.1905
Limerick, Ireland
-
21.08.1980
[Deansgrange Cemetery, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland]

P/O (prob) 13.03.1926 [22169]

P/O 13.09.1926

F/O 1927/28?

F/Lt. 30.06.1931

Sq.Ldr. 01.04.1937

(T) W/Cdr. 01.03.1940

(T) Gp.Capt. 01.03.1942

Gp.Capt. 01.07.1947, seniority 01.10.1946 (retd 08.02.1954)

CBE 02.01.1950 ?

Education: St Gregory's School, Downside; RAF Staff College (01.1939-...; psa; passed qualifying examinations 01.1937).

13.03.1926 commissioned, RAF (General Duties Branch) [short service commission]

13.03.1926 No. 5 Flying Training School, Sealand

01.03.1927 RAF Base, Calshot

20.12.1927 RAF Station, Duxford

18.01.1930 Central Flying School, Wittering

26.04.1932 RAF Training Base, Leuchars

18.09.1933 Experimental Section, Royal Aircraft Establishment, South Farnborough

14.05.1934 - 01.04.1937 24 (Communications) Squadron RAF (Hendon)

01.07.1936 permanent commission

01.04.1937 Department of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Ministry

04.05.1938 flying duties, 215 (Bomber) Squadron RAF (Driffield)

... - ... ...

Neate,
Roland Greville
"Bob"
R.R. Nash 05.07.1918
-
04.02.2007
Yeovil, Somerset

Sgt.
? [542178]

P/O (prob)
12.02.1944 [55521]

P/O
12.08.1944

(WS) F/O
12.08.1944

(WS) F/Lt.
12.02.1946

F/O
22.05.1947, seniority 12.02.1946

...
...

W/Cdr.
01.07.1961 (retd 30.10.1964)

12.02.1944

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

22.05.1947

extended service commission and transferred to the Secretarial Branch

Nettleton,
John Dering
J.D. Nettleton

Wikipedia
28.06.1917
Nongoma, Natal, South Africa
-
13.07.1943
Turin, Italy

...
... [41452]

Sq.Ldr.
?

W/Cdr.
?

VC
1942
?

...
-
...
...

Nicolson,
[Eric] James Brindley
"Nick"
J.B. Nicolson

Son of Leslie Gibson Nicolson, of independent means, and Dorothea Hilda Ellen Brindley, of Shoreham-by-Sea.
Married (29.07.1939) Muriel Caroline Kendall, daughter of Arthur Kendall, a farmer, of Kirkby Wharfe, Yorkshire; one son.

29.04.1917
Hampstead, London
-
02.05.1945
off Calcutta, India
[Singapore Memorial, Kranji Cemetery, column 445]

(A) P/O (prob)
21.12.1936 [39329]

P/O
12.10.1937

F/O
12.05.1939

F/Lt.
03.09.1940

(T) Sq.Ldr.
01.12.1941

(WS) Sq.Ldr.
19.01.1945, seniority 17.06.1942

(A) W/Cdr.
11.08.1944

VC
15.11.1940
* [only Fighter Command VC] [investiture 25.11.40]

DFC
11.08.1944
Burma [investiture to next-of-kin 29.10.46]

* During an engagement with the enemy near Southampton on 16th August, 1940, Flight Lieutenant Nicolson's aircraft was hit by four cannon shells, two of which wounded him whilst another set fire to the gravity tank. When about to abandon his aircraft owing to flames in the cockpit he sighted an enemy fighter. This he attacked and shot down, although as a result of staying in his burning aircraft he sustained serious burns to his hands, face, neck and legs. Flight Lieutenant Nicolson has always displayed great enthusiasm for air fighting and this incident shows that he possesses courage and determination of a high order. By continuing to engage the enemy after he had been wounded and his aircraft set on fire, he displayed exceptional gallantry and disregard for the safety of his own life.
Education: Yardley Court Preparatory School, Tonbridge, and Tonbridge School
Experimental engineer at Ricardo's Works, Shoreham, 1935-1936.

10.1936

joined RAF (White Waltham civil flying school)

21.12.1936

commissioned, RAF (General Duties Branch) [short service commission]

1936?
-
1937?
training at Ternhill, Shropshire

07.08.1937
-
05.1940
72 Squadron RAF (Church Fenton, then Leconfield, etc.)

15.05.1940
-
16.08.1940
Acting Flight Commander, 249 Squadron RAF (Leconfield, form 14.08.1940 Boscombe Down, Wiltshire) [badly wounded during aerial combat which earned him the VC]

16.08.1940
-
23.02.1941
RAF hospital at Halton & RAF convalescent facility at Torquay

24.02.1941
-
21.09.1941
instructional staff , 54 Operational Training Unit RAF

22.09.1941
-
16.03.1942
Commanding Officer, 1459 Flight RAF (later 538 Squadron RAF) (Hibaldstow)

transferred to reserve (RAFO)

17.03.1942
-
12.1942
staff officer at HQ 293 Wing RAF (Alipore, India)

12.1942
-
03.08.1943
on staff of Air HQ at Bengal

04.08.1943
-
10.08.1944
Commanding Officer, 27 Squadron RAF (Agartala, Burma)

11.08.1944
-
02.05.1945
Wing Commander (Training) at 3rd Tactical Air Force HQ (Comilla, Bengal)
[Joined the crew of KH210 of 355 Squadron RAF as an observer for a raid on Rangoon. Two hours after take-off the plane's starboard engines caught fire and at 2.50 a.m. on 2 May 1945 the plane ditched in the Bay of Bengal. There were only two survivors from the crew of eleven: one of them reported seeing Nicolson give a cheery thumbs-up sign just before taking his ditching station. His body was never recovered.]

16.08.1940

victories:
1 Bf 109

Literature: Peter D. Mason, Nicolson VC : full and authorised biography of James Brindley Nicolson (1991)

Noble,
James Treleaven
J.T. Noble (Photo courtesy of Mr Lee Bendall)
Oldest son (with two brothers) of George Ferguson Noble, and Olive Alma Taylor..
Married Irene Limbert. 14.01.1915
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
-
12.05.1984
Peace Arch Hospital, White Rock, British Columbia, Canada (formerly of Surrey, B.C.)

(A) P/O (prob) 02.09.1939 [42636]

P/O 27.07.1940

(WS) F/O 27.07.1941

(WS) F/Lt. 27.07.1942 (reld 21.09.1944; ill-health)

10.07.1939 Civilian Flying School, Prestwick

02.09.1939 commissioned, RAF (General Duties Branch) (for pilot duties) [short service commission]

02.09.1939 No. 9 Flying Training School RAF ([pilot discf.?] course)

23.09.1939 No. 15 Flying Training School RAF (supernumerary, for flying training)

27.07.1940 16 Operational Training Unit RAF (for operational training)

29.09.1940 106 Squadron RAF (for flying duties)

20.10.1940 61 Squadron RAF (for flying duties)

02.03.1941 RAF Station Hemswell (supernumerary; non-effective, sick)

17.11.1941 Air Ministry: Unit

10.02.1943 Air Ministry: Directorate of Public Relations, Department of Permanent Under-Secretary (for temporary duty in P.R.3 [branch producing pamphlets, feature articles, photography])

06.09.1943 HQ Bomber Command (on C/A [= continued attachment?] to Directorate of Public Relations)

01.02.1944 Personnel Holding Unit Morecambe (non-effective; sick, admitted Greveley's Hospital)

Apartment manager.

Norman,
Sir Henry Nigel St Valery;
2nd Baronet, cr. 1915, succ. 1939
H.N.St.V. Norman
Son of Rt Hon. Sir Henry Norman, 1st Bt, and Ménie Muriel Dowie.
Married (1926)
Patricia Moyra, eldest daughter of late Lt.Col. J.H.A. Annesley, DSO, CMG; three sons.
21.05.1897
-
19.05.1943
(aircraft accident)

Sq.Ldr. AAFRO
03.09.1939

Gp.Capt. AAFRO
?

Education: Winchester; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; Trinity College, Cambridge, MA

served France, in RGA and RE, 1916-1919; Metropolitan Railway, 1922-1928; Private Aeroplane owner since 1926; with F. A. I.
Muntz founded Airwork Ltd to construct and develop Heston Airport, 1928; Commanded No. 601 (County of London) Squadron, AAF; in course of professional work has flown extensively over Europe, North America, Africa and India; in partnership has specialized in planning of major airports in United Kingdom
and abroad

Commander, 38 Wing RAF (for support of 1st Airborne Division)

Aeronautical Consultant; Chairman, Airwork Ltd, Heston; Partner, Norman, and Dawbarn, Aeronautical Consulting Engineers and Architects; Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society
Published: Papers read before Institute of Town Planning, Royal Aeronautical Society, Architectural Association, London Society, Chartered Surveyors' Institution, etc.

Norrington,
Harry
H. Norrington ?
-

Sq.Ldr. 01.07.1936

qualified at specialist engineering course

North-Lewis,
Christopher David
"Kit"
C.D. North-Lewis

13.03.1918
-
25.03.2008
Harting, nr Petersfield, Sussex

P/O
04.12.1940 [45073]

...
...

A/Cdre.
01.01.1964 (retd 01.02.1971)

21.06.1939

commissioned, Queen Victoria's Rifles, King's Royal Rifle Corps - Territorial Army (2nd Lieutenant 24.08.1939, War Substantive Lieutenant 01.01.1941)

04.12.1940

commissioned, RAF (General Duties Branch)

Nowell,
Henry Edward
"Harry"
H.E. Nowell
Son of J.G. Nowell, Swindon, Wiltshire.
Married 1st (1931) Freda Mason (marriage dissolved, 1962), daughter of Alfred Mason, Swindon; two sons.
Married 2nd (1963) Pauline Biage, daughter of late Albert Biage, Montreal.

15.11.1903
Swindon district, Wiltshire
-
01.02.1967
West Drayton, Middlesex

P/O
17.12.1924 [16160]

...
...

Sq.Ldr.
01.02.1937

(T) W/Cdr.
01.03.1940

W/Cdr.
14.04.1942, seniority 01.01.1940

(T) Gp./Capt.
01.03.1942

(WS) Gp.Capt.
02.01.1945

Gp.Capt.
01.10.1946

(A) Air Cdre.
02.07.1944-1945?,
15.10.1948?

Air Cdre.
01.01.1951 (retd 15.08.1955)

CB 13.06.1946; OBE 11.06.1942; LoM, 05.07.1946.

Education: The College, Swindon; RAF Apprentices School, Cranwell; RAF College, Cranwell.

qualified at specialist engineering course

...
-
...
...

1940
-
1941
Senior Air Staff Officer, HQ No ? (Indian) Group? (Peshawar)

26.12.1941

Equipment Officer, HQ Air Forces in India

1942

Joint Planning Staff, Delhi

1942?
-
03.1943
Deputy Director of Plans, Air Ministry

09.03.1943
-
1944
Deputy Director of Policy, Air Ministry

02.07.1944
-
1945
Senior Air Staff Officer, RAF Delegation, Washington

...
-
...
...

Executive Officer to the Chairman, The Hunting Group of Companies, 1955-1967. Deputy Lieutenant, Berkshire, 1966.

Nuttall,
Frank Edward
F.E. Nuttall 05.03.1903
-
21.09.1978
[Saint Andrew Churchyard
Cranwell, Lincolnshire]

Sq.Ldr.
01.02.1937 (retd 30.06.1937)

W/Cdr.
?

(T) Gp.Capt.
01.01.1943

CBE
?
?

20.12.1922

first commission

26.08.1939
-
17.11.1946
recalled to active service

DL

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z