Signature: Kirby, Harold

Called up in 1942 he attended a flight mechanics course at RAF Halton and then qualified as a flight engineer in 1943, joining 467 Squadron at Waddington on Lancasters. In August 1944 his aircraft was forced to crash land after an operation when a 1000lb bomb from another Lancaster ripped through their port wing and destroyed their undercarriage over France. In September 1944 he joined 97 Squadron at Coningsby on Lancasters as part of the Pathfinders and remained with this unit until the end of the war. He left the RAF in 1946.