
14th May 2010, 14:07
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: East Sussex
Posts: 292
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Re: F/Sgt FW Farfan 123 Sqn escape from Crete
There is this link: http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,49691.html
He and another brother, Esmond, are mentioned.
Quote:
Among the well known families at BWIA were the Farfans. Ferdinand Junior Farfan was the airline’s first Trinidadian captain. A veteran of World War II, Farfan joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) at age 19. He flew Spitfires in the Middle East and was shot down over Crete in July 1942, just managing to elude capture. He also saw action in Normandy in 1944, taking part in the Battle of Falaise Gap.
After the war ended, Farfan joined BWIA. His first flight with the airline took place exactly 61 years ago — on Christmas Eve 1945. He retired in 1968.
Farfan’s brother, Esmond, became the third Trinidadian pilot to join BWIA. He too was a veteran of World War II who saw plenty of action over Germany and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Esmond Farfan, who flew Lancaster bombers and Mosquitoes during the war, joined the airline in October 1946. He remained with the airline for 33 years and was the first to fly Boeing 707s with BWIA in 1963. He retired from the airline after the pilots’ strike of 1978.
In addition to his job as a pilot, Esmond Farfan can also be counted among this country’s business leaders. He has paid a critical role in the success of the business founded by his father, Fernand Theodore Farfan six decades ago — FT Farfan and Sons.
The Farfan brothers made history for the local carrier in 1955 when they piloted BWIA’s first Viscount aircraft. Ferdinand Farfan was captain with Esmond as co-pilot on the flight from London which arrived in Trinidad via Prestwick, Iceland, Greenland, Gander, New York and Bermuda.
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