[Steve Brew]

Hi Frank

I can offer you the following:

BENNIONS, George Herman ‘Ben’, 563057/43354, RAF; b. Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., 13 Mar. 1913; ed. Longton High Sch., joined RAF as Aircraft Apprnt. (No. 563057), Halton, Jan. 1929; grad. as LAC Eng. Fitter, Dec. 1931; selected for plt. trng. & to 3 FTS Grantham, 1935; qual. as Sgt. Plt., Jan. 1936; 41 Sqdn., Sheikh Othman, Aden Protectorate, 16 Feb. 1936; Flt. Sgt., Nov. 1938; rec. for com., 8 Dec. 1939; com. Prob. Plt. Off. (No. 43354), 1 Apr. 1940; SD, WIA & baled out of Spit. I, X4559, EB-J, over Henfield, Ssx., 1 Oct. 1940 (became member of Caterpillar Club); landed at Dunstalls Farm & admtd. Horsham Hosp., 1 Oct. 1940, then Queen Victoria Hosp., E. Grinstead (blinded in an eye & injuries to right arm & leg); plastic surgery by pioneering Dr. Sir Archibald McIndoe & founding member of ‘Guinea Pig Club’; DFC, 1 Oct. 1940; Flg. Off. (WS), 1 Apr. 1941; after recovery, tested at CFS & given A2B non-ops. daytime flg. status; Temp. Flt. Lt., 1 Jun. 1942; Flt. Lt. (WS), 1 Aug. 1942; MiD, 1 Jan. 1943; trans. from ASD Branch to GDB as Controller (non-ops. rating removed), 14 Jan. 1943; to N. Africa as Liaison Off. for US Fighter Grp., Algiers, & flew Spits. on convoy patrols, Sicily, 1943; WIA by shrapnel in landing craft, Ajaccio, Corsica, Oct. 1943; released from RAF, 1946; rel. com., 15 Mar. 1958, rtng. Sqdn. Ldr.; occ. wood & metalwork teacher & res. Catterick, Yorks; d. 30 Jan. 2004


Hope this is a help

I have corresponded with Mike Nash separately, but may I ask your interest in Bennions, please?

Kind regards
Steve

The Pilots of 41 Squadron RAF, 1939-1945
Web: http://brew.clients.ch/RAF41Sqdn.htm

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