{"id":2,"date":"2010-04-07T11:35:29","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T11:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmsf.greennet.website\/about\/"},"modified":"2024-04-10T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T13:25:10","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/themerseysidefew.com\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]The Merseyside Few are the twelve pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain during World War II and are buried in Merseyside. This site is both a tribute to them, and a resource for anyone wanting to learn about Battle of Britain pilots with links to Liverpool and Wirral.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merseyside\u2019s connection with The Battle of Britain has captivated me. As well as the pilots laid to rest here, my research has uncovered a number who were born in, or have connections to, Liverpool and Wirral.<\/p>\n

Visit ‘The Pilots’ to discover their stories<\/a><\/h2>\n

It is not my intention to give an account of The Battle of Britain, or to go into any technical details of the aircraft which took part. Nor will I describe the air defence of Liverpool and North West England during this time. Instead, I want to put on record as best as I can the stories of those Battle of Britain pilots who are buried on Liverpool and Wirral: the Merseyside Few.<\/p>\n

Not all of their stories are complete (is any story ever complete?) so some pages have only basic details about the pilots. If you have any information about them, please get in touch<\/a> and I will be happy to add it.<\/p>\n

The story behind the Merseyside Few website<\/h2>\n

James Bond as not a name normally associated with The Battle of Britain, but he is the man indirectly responsible for my preoccupation with it. Well, Bond\u2019s creator Ian Fleming is anyway.<\/p>\n

In August 2008 I took a train from my home near Liverpool to London Euston with the sole purpose of visiting an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum<\/a> celebrating the centenary of Ian Fleming\u2019s birth. As well as his writing career, the For Your Eyes Only exhibition covered Fleming\u2019s wartime experiences as Personal Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence and later as a Naval Intelligence Officer. A prelude to my interest to come.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed the exhibition and, as is usual at these things, exited into a shop. After looking at the Fleming\/Bond items I started browsing the books that really represent the theme of the Imperial War Museum, those on the First and Second World Wars. My enduring love of history was re-awakened as I stood looking at those books.<\/p>\n

Growing up during the early 1970s most of my mates wanted to be footballers, to have the sideburns of Kevin Keegan or the white signature boots of Alan Ball. Of course I loved football too, but strangely enough (in the years before Indiana Jones) I wanted to be an archaeologist. I don\u2019t remember what history I studied at primary school but I must have enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

A Merseyside boy with an early and enduring love of history<\/h3>\n

History became my favourite, and therefore strongest, subject at secondary school. However, I once again don\u2019t really recall what I studied or why my love of the subject continued. Until, in 1976, I began O-Level History.<\/p>\n

My history teacher treated his class like students rather than school children and gave us fascinating lectures. It was a way of teaching I hadn\u2019t encountered before. I remember studying Italian and German Unification and being completely enamoured with the stories. I did well enough to take history to A-Level.<\/p>\n

This new approach to learning drew me into the mechanics of research. When something piqued my curiosity, I bought the books, records, DVDs etc. to learn and understand as much as I could about my current interest. This became a lifelong trait. As I stood in the Imperial War Museum shop browsing shelves of books about World War II, my old desire to \u201cget into\u201d a subject was right there with me.<\/p>\n

I bought books about different stages of WWII and, as is my way, read them in the order the events occurred. I chose a book on Dunkirk, two on The Battle of Britain, one on the Great Escape, one on The Dambusters and one on D-Day. Just enough to get me started!<\/p>\n

My research into World War II begins<\/h3>\n

After reading Hugh Sebag-Montefiore\u2019s epic on Dunkirk<\/a>, I read Tim Clayton and Phil Craig\u2019s Finest Hour<\/a> and Matthew Parker\u2019s The Battle of Britain<\/a>. I bought the DVD of Finest Hour and read Stephen Bungay\u2019s Most Dangerous Enemy<\/a> and Patrick Bishop\u2019s Fighter Boys<\/a>. By now I was completely obsessed with the events of the summer of 1940.<\/p>\n

What I struggled to get my head round, and still do, is that the young Fighter Boys of the RAF, known as \u2018The Few<\/a>\u2019, were exactly that. Young. Aged 18, 19, 20 and charged with the defence of their country and, without exaggeration, the defence of the free world. Their stories gripped me. I started buying all the books I could lay my hands on, particularly those by the pilots themselves. Sixteen years on, I\u2019m still reading them.<\/p>\n

Next I decided I wanted something tangible from the Battle, anything really. On eBay I lost out on an Irvin flying jacket and some genuine Spitfire parts but won a book signed by a number of The Few.<\/p>\n

One of the signatures rang a bell in some part of my mind, that of Wing Commander John Freeborn. I seemed to remember my mum having a friend called John Freeborn sometime in the early 1980s. An email exchange with her confirmed the two John Freeborns were indeed the same person. She filled me in on her friendship and said that they had lost touch and she assumed he had died.<\/p>\n

A surprise family connection with one of The Few<\/h3>\n

Whilst researching him, I came across a website advertising a signing event where you could meet some of The Few and get books, aviation prints and other memorabilia signed. One of The Few in attendance was to be John Freeborn. Through the organiser of the event, I was able to introduce myself to John.<\/p>\n

He said he would very much like to get in touch with my mum again. Addresses were exchanged and very quickly they were in touch again after some 25 plus years. And so I have had the privilege of spending many hours with John, getting to know him and enjoying his war stories.<\/p>\n

One of the books I bought was the hard-to-find Men of The Battle of Britain by Kenneth G Wynn<\/a>. This book provides a potted biography of each of the 2,917 allied airmen who flew operationally in The Battle of Britain.<\/p>\n

The discovery of the Merseyside Few<\/h3>\n

Dipping in and out of it I was taken aback to find that a number of pilots killed in action were actually buried in Liverpool and Wirral. I had kind of assumed most pilots would be buried in and around Kent and Sussex. So, I went through Wynn\u2019s book, pilot by pilot, making a note of those laid to rest, not only on Merseyside, but in the North West of England.<\/p>\n

I spent much of the summer of 2009 touring cemeteries and grave yards in search of pilots\u2019 graves. I joined The Battle of Britain Historical Society<\/a> so I could formally adopt any of the graves that didn\u2019t have a carer. In all I\u2019ve visited around 24 graves from Windermere to Egton-with-Newland, from Macclesfield, Poynton and Delemere to Marple and St Helen\u2019s.<\/p>\n

And so we come to the purpose of this work. With the deaths of Bill Stone, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch, 2009 saw the passing of the First World War generation. This focussed my mind on what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n

This work is my tribute to them.<\/p>\n

The Merseyside Few are:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Jind\u0159ich Barto\u0161 \u2013 West Derby Cemetery<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Thomas Daniel Humphrey Davy \u2013 Anfield Cemetery<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer John Fraser Drummond \u2013 Thornton Garden of Rest<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer David Evans \u2013 St Andrews Church Bebington<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Stanley Allen Fenemore \u2013 Allerton Cemetery<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer John Connell Freeborn \u2013 Liverpool Road Cemetery, Ainsdale<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Kenneth McLeod Gillies \u2013 Thornton Garden of Rest<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Otto Hanzl\u00ed\u010dek \u2013 West Derby Cemetery<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Raymond Towers Holmes \u2013 Rake Lane Cemetery Wallasey<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant James Hayward Little \u2013 Grange Cemetery West Kirby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer Reginald Frank Rimmer \u2013 Grange Cemetery West Kirby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant George Edward Bowes Stoney \u2013 St Helen\u2019s Church Sefton<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Norman Sutton \u2013 St Helens Cemetery<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Wladyslaw Szulkowski \u2013 West Derby Cemetery<\/p>\n

Members of The Few with connections to Liverpool and Wirral:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Sgt Pilot Cyril Stanley Bamberger \u2013 worked at Port Sunlight<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Sydney Howarth Bazley \u2013 born Southport<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer Harold Arthur Cooper Bird-Wilson \u2013 educated Liverpool College<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Michael Featherstone Briggs \u2013 educated Oundle School Liverpool<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer Allan Walter Naylor Britton \u2013 born Wallasey<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Owen Valentine Burns \u2013 born Birkenhead<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Douglas Frederick Corfe \u2013 born Hoylake<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt John Leslie Feather \u2013 born Liverpool<\/p>\n

\u2022 Squadron Leader Thomas Percy Gleave \u2013 born Liverpool<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer Douglas Hamilton Grice \u2013 born Wallasey<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Leonard Jowitt \u2013 of Huyton (formerly Seaforth)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant William Johnson \u201cJack\u201d Leather \u2013 born West Derby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Charles White MacDougal \u2013 born Garston<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Edward Manton \u2013 born Bebington<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer Peter Gerald Hugh Matthews \u2013 born Liverpool<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Walter Maxwell \u2013 born Meols<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer John Colin Mungo-Park \u2013 born Wallasey<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Thomas Francis Neil \u2013 born Bootle<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Derrick Lang Ryalls \u2013 born West Kirby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Andrew Thomas Smith \u2013 of Fulwood Park<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Edward Brian Bretherton Smith \u2013 born Formby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Sgt Harry Steere \u2013 born Birkenhead<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Sgt Jack Steere \u2013 born Birkenhead<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pilot Officer Ian Welsh Sutherland \u2013 of Liverpool<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Lieutenant Douglas Herbert Watkins \u2013 born Birkenhead<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flight Officer John Terrance Webster- born West Derby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sgt Pilot Alfred Whitby \u2013 born West Derby<\/p>\n

\u2022 Squadron Leader W H R Whitty \u2013 born Litherland attended Liverpool College and University<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sub-Lieutenant Thomas Victor Worrall \u2013 born Runcorn[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]The Merseyside Few are the twelve pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain during World War II and are buried in Merseyside. This site is both a tribute to them, and a resource for anyone wanting to learn about Battle of Britain pilots with links to Liverpool and Wirral. Merseyside\u2019s connection with The Battle of Britain has captivated me. As well as the pilots laid to rest here, my research has uncovered a number who were born in, or have connections to, Liverpool and Wirral. Visit ‘The Pilots’ to discover their stories It is not my intention to give…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout - The Merseyside Few<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the stories of the pilots known as the Merseyside Few: who they were, where they are buried, and why they inspired this website.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tmsf.greennet.website\/?page_id=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About - The Merseyside Few\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover the stories of the pilots known as the Merseyside Few: who they were, where they are buried, and why they inspired this website.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tmsf.greennet.website\/?page_id=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Merseyside Few\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-10T13:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tmsf.greennet.website\\\/?page_id=2\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tmsf.greennet.website\\\/?page_id=2\",\"name\":\"About - 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