V.C. AIRMEN

Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron, RAFVR,  was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Flying Medal for extraordinary bravery. 

12 August 1943, 11 Stirling Bombers of No.218 (Gold Coast) Squadron of No.3 Group Bomber Command took off from their base at RAF Downham Market, Norfolk. Arthur Louis Aaron and crew took off in a Stirling Mk.III. BF452- HA-O-Orange at 2135 hours to bomb the Fiat Works,  Turin, Italy. En route, Aaron flew through southern France to avoid the enemy night fighter bases in the Ruhr, Germany.  On their way to the Swiss Alps, they climbed to an altitude of 14,000ft. Aaron, a keen mountaineer before joining the RAF, would have appreciated the challenge of flying over the Alps during this mission. Sadly, that dream was scattered. 

Aaron's aircraft became the victim of friendly fire from another Stirling Bomber, not a night fighter as recorded in the Citation.

As the friendly fire homed in on Stirling BF452, a bullet hit Aaron in the face, breaking his Jaw and tearing away part of his face. He was also shot in the lung, and his right shoulder was rendered u/s.  

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was born on 19 October 1918 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was the great-grandson of Sir Joseph Bazalgette. His Father was Charles Ian Bazalgette, and his mother Marion Edith Willoughby (nee Bunn).  Educated at Balmy Beach School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.         The family moved to England in 1927, and Ian continued his education at Rokeby School in Wimbledon, Surrey, and then at Old Elizabethans School in Hartlebury, Worcester. Baz never married but had several girlfriends, according to his sister Ethel Bazalgette recalls: "We lived in Toronto roughly for three years by which time my father's health had really deteriorated.