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My husband has been reading the war diaries of his great-uncle’s regiment and has finally found out the details of how the man our eldest is named after died, aged just 28. #thread #ww2 #familyhistory #militaryhistory 1/11
He was a pilot in the Air Observation Post, based on Italy during 1944 and flying a tiny Auster aircraft - lightweight and highly manoeuvrable but with little to no protection. 2/11 
On 10th June 1944 he was flying ahead of the lines prior to the allied advance on Chieti, spotting enemy tanks/troops. Whether he was shot or something failed in his aircraft is unknown but he hit the side of the main cathedral tower. 3/11
He crash-landed in the main square, the allies had just made it into the town and he was pulled from the wreckage by a fellow AOP pilot. 4/11
He had fractured both his legs and had to be evacuated back to hospital where it was decided that one of his legs needed to be amputated as it couldn’t be saved. The assumption is that the operation didn’t go well and there was an infection... 5/11
...and the family memory is that he died from an allergic reaction to penicillin. He died on Sept 1st 1944 in Barletta and was then buried in the commonwealth war cemetery in Bari. 6/11
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During his service he was awarded the Cross de Geurre for his actions with the French in North Africa and also mentioned in despatches several times. 8/11
He was the commander of his section “C Section, 651 AOP” throughout the North Africa campaign, then promoted to acting Major for most of the Italian Campaign and commanded the squadron. 9/11
He and another captain (McGrath) were the first two allied pilots to arrive and land in Sicily on Sept 3rd 1943 and were apparently the first two allied airmen to (officially) land in occupied Europe since the Nazis took over in 1939. 10/11
He played a crucial role in an aspect of the war few seem to know much about. He sounds like an amazing man, to have done so much so young and I’m proud that his name lives on. 11/11
