Revealed: the life of a Halifax flying ace: Records go online for the first time
Published Date:
03 July 2008
HE was a Second World War flying ace who came from Halifax – and now Sir John Eustace Arthur Baldwin's flying records can be seen online
The Air Marshall was acting Commander in Chief of Bomber Command when German boats, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau escaped from the French port of Brest and fled up the English Channel to the sanctuary of Kiel harbour in northern Germany.
Sir John's records will be published online for the first time along with more than 28,000 RAF records and 13,000 photographs by the Royal Aero Club.
Sir John was born in Halifax on April 13 1892.
He started and finished his military career in the Army. He was a cavalry officer during the First World War. He trained at Rugby and Sandhurst before being commissioned into the 8th KRI Hussars in 1911.
In 1918 he transferred to the RAF and moved up the ranks to become an Air Office Commander for the Third Tactical Air Force between 1943 to 1944.
It was during this time, between January 9 and February 21 1942 he acted as commander in chief for Bomber Command taking part in the attempt to stop the enemy ships making it back to Germany.
The records show he was a popular officer and flew on operations with crews.
He was also commander of the RAF's first four-engined monoplane heavy bomber, the Short Stirling.
When he retired from the RAF at the end of the war he rejoined his former regiment, the 8th KRI Hussars, becoming colonel from 1948 to 1958.
He died in Stamford, Lincolnshire, on July 28, 1975 at the age of 83.
Andrew Dawrant of the Royal Aero Club said: "There has been a long held interest in both our pilots and their early aviation achievements and launch of the online collection gives people the opportunity to explore it."
The full article contains 326 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
03 July 2008 8:51 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Halifax
