Owen Hardy was a New Zealand fighter pilot who shot down a number of enemy aircraft in North Africa and North West Europe whilst flying Spitfires.  He was twice awarded the DFC.  He remained in the RAF post war and continued to fly fighters and whilst commanding a new Vampire jet squadron in Germany, he formed one of the RAF’s first jet aerobatic teams.

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John Digman trained as a navigator in Canada before joining No. 44 Squadron equipped with Lancasters.  He completed a full tour of operations attacking targets in Germany, Norway and Poland.  He was awarded the DFC.  After the war he became a specialist navigator before becoming the wing commander operations on a Vulcan base masterminding the operations during a move of the three squadrons from Coningsby to Cottesmore.  He was appointed OBE.    He died aged 94.

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ACM Sir Peter Squire, who has died aged 72, commanded the RAF Harrier squadron that fought in the Falkland Islands in 1982.  After a succession of senior appointments he became the RAF’s Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) in 2000.

An experienced ground attack pilot, Squire flew 23 bombing, rocketing and reconnaissance operations from HMS Hermes against Argentinian targets during the war to liberate the Falkland Islands.  He was awarded the DFC for his ‘outstanding valour’.  He later commanded RAF Cottesmore, the home of the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment.  He held senior appointments in the MoD and was later the C-inC Strike Command before becoming CAS.  In retirement he was Chairman of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The photograph shows him as OC 1 Squadron at the time of the Falkland’s War.

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Margot Duhalde, who has died aged 97, was the first female pilot in Chile starting her flying lessons when she was 16-years old.  Of French-Basque ancestry, when General de Gaulle issued his call to the Free French she immediately volunteered and sailed for England.  The French did not require female pilots so she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).  She served for four years, delivered over 900 aircraft including fighters and twin-engined aircraft.  She later flew with the French Air Force in Morocco before returning to Chile where she continued flying until she was 83.

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Peter Hearne flew Spitfires and Mustangs during the Second World War and was credited with destroying at least five enemy aircraft.  He commanded No. 19 Squadron when it was sent to Peterhead in north Scotland where it provided an escort for the Mosquito and Beaufighter Strike Wings attacking enemy shipping off the Norwegian coast.  He was awarded the DFC.  Before leaving the RAF in 1962 he commanded a Thor inter-continental ballistic missile squadron.

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Air Chief Marshal Sir Douglas Lowe was a wartime bomber pilot who later had a significant influence on RAF operational capabilities and procurement during a series of senior appointments.  He flew Stirling bombers and was awarded the DFC before becoming a bombing instructor.  He commanded a Valiant squadron, served as an operations officer at the HQ of USAF’s Strategic Air Commend, was SASO in the Near East Air Force and spent two years as AOC No. 18 (Maritime) Group.  He completed three tours in the operational requirements directorate in MOD before becoming Controller Aircraft and Chief of Defence Procurement.

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Gordon Mellor was the navigator of a Halifax bomber shot down over Belgium.  He was helped by local farmers and eventually reached Brussels where members of the Comet Line took control and escorted him to the Spanish border.  He joined a party that was taken over the Pyrenees into Spain and he eventually reached the UK.  He served the rest of the war as a navigation instructor.

The photograph is the one used on his false papers in France

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Reg Reynolds was one of the most decorated RAF pilots during World War Two earning two DSOs and two DFCs, one of only 30 airmen to do so.  He led many low-level daylight attacks in Mosquitos including the longest to the Zeiss Optical Works at Jena and the attack on the Gestapo headquarters at Aarhus in Denmark.  His most spectacular success was to lead four Mosquitos on the first daylight raid on Berlin when, with brilliant timing, a key address by Goring to the German nation at a mass rally was interrupted.  The attack was a great propaganda coup.

The photograph show Reynolds (right) and his brilliant navigator Ted Sismore.

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A former Halton aircraft apprentice, Ted Stocker was one of the first flight engineers who went on to complete 102 operations in heavy bombers over Europe, one of very few airmen to reach this extraordinary number.  He was the only flight engineer to be awarded the DSO.  Many of his operations were with the Pathfinder Force and he frequently flew with the Master Bomber.  He also received the DFC.  After the war he trained as a pilot and flew with Coastal Command on Lancasters and Lockheed Neptunes.

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Alfie Martin was the bomb-aimer of a Halifax bomber shot down on the French-Belgian border.  He baled out and was fortunate to be sheltered by a family for six weeks and who had connections with the Comet Escape Line.  He was taken by couriers to the Spanish border near St Jean de Luz where a Basque guide took him over the Pyrenees into Spain.  Taken to Gibraltar he flew back to England two months after being shot down.  He was awarded the DFC.

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