Denis Eliot, 159 Sq., Liberator pilot

[DavidIsby]

https://www.fromorphantohighflyer.co...J-qGeVqApFqoBc

from Facebook:

Veterans' Foundation
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Please join us in celebrating the life of RAF Veteran Denis Elliot.
Denis formed a 16-year friendship with Philip Martin who at first helped with chores before assuming roles of carer and biographer.
Over the years, Philip listened in awe to accounts of how Denis flew B-24 Liberators against the Japanese and served in Palestine and India.
The pair produced a book - From Orphan to High-Flyer - charting the serviceman's life from when he was left in a London orphanage by his mother aged three.
Chapters go on to tell how Denis was blown off his bike as he cycled home in the Blitz and diced with death in the skies after a terrifying engine fire.
Philip remembers: "I first met Denis was I was 10 and he sold a car to my mother. As I became a teenager, I got very interested in history, so whenever Denis was over, I asked him about his time in the RAF. When I was 18, I started helping him with his garden every Saturday. Afterwards we'd chat over a cup of tea and play chess and he'd talk about his war service with 159 Squadron.”
Denis died on Friday September 3, 2021, with Philip at his side.
Philip said: ”I can say from the bottom of my heart and with every ounce of my being that Denis Elliott was the greatest man I have ever met. He changed my life, and I want everyone to discover what a truly beautiful man he was, all that he overcame and the strength of the human spirit which he embodied.”

[Teresa Maria]

Rest in peace.