Aviation Historian

For Valour : 2nd Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse VC
For Valour : 2nd Lieutenant William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse VC

26 April 2025

26 September 1887 – 27 April 1915 April 26th 1915, over France Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse has the distinction of being the first aviator to be awarded the Victoria […]

Find out more

For Valour: 2nd Lt. (Temporary Captain) [later Major] James Byford McCudden, DSO*, MC*, MM, Croix de Guerre, General List and Royal Flying Corps.
For Valour: 2nd Lt. (Temporary Captain) [later Major] James Byford McCudden, DSO*, MC*, MM, Croix de Guerre, General List and Royal Flying Corps.

2 April 2025

28 March 1895 – 9 July 1918 April 2, 1918,Over France Captain McCudden’s Victoria Cross is exceptional as it was awarded, not for one particular event of […]

Find out more

For Valour: Lieutenant Alan Jerrard, Royal Air Force VC, MVB
For Valour: Lieutenant Alan Jerrard, Royal Air Force VC, MVB

30 March 2025

3 December 1897 – 14 May 1968 March 30, 1918, over Italy Lieutenant Jerrard has the distinction of being the only member of the RFC/RAF to have […]

Find out more

For Valour: 2nd Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod, VC Royal Air Force
For Valour: 2nd Lieutenant Alan Arnett McLeod, VC Royal Air Force

27 March 2025

20 April 1899 – 9 November 1918 27 March 1918, over France After 3 years of static trench warfare, on 21 March 1918 the Great War became […]

Find out more

For Valour : Lieutenant Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamara, VC, Australian Forces, Royal Flying Corps
For Valour : Lieutenant Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamara, VC, Australian Forces, Royal Flying Corps

20 March 2025

4 April 1894 – 2 November 1961 March 20, 1917, over Palestine In the Middle East, Britain was fighting German and Turkish forces over a wide area, […]

Find out more

For Valour : Flight Lieutenant William (Bill) Ellis Newton (Aus. 250748) VC, Royal Australian Air Force
For Valour : Flight Lieutenant William (Bill) Ellis Newton (Aus. 250748) VC, Royal Australian Air Force

17 March 2025

8 June 1919 – 29 March 1943 Newton in flying kit (RAF Museum PC/76/23/5) As well as providing thousands of airmen to the RAF to fight in […]

Find out more

On This Day In History : 4 February 1945
On This Day In History : 4 February 1945

4 February 2025

This day in 1945, 4 – 11 February: Yalta ‘Big Three’ Conference ‘Big Three’ at Yalta: Prime Minister Churchill; President Roosevelt; Premier Stalin. Air Chief Marshal Portal […]

Find out more

For Valour: Serjeant Thomas Mottershead (1396) VC, Royal Flying Corps
For Valour: Serjeant Thomas Mottershead (1396) VC, Royal Flying Corps

7 January 2025

Serjeant Thomas Mottershead (1396) VC, Royal Flying Corps 17 January 1892 – 12 January 1917 On the ground, fighting on the Western Front had been static since […]

Find out more

For Valour : Acting Squadron Leader Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer (115772) VC DFC*
For Valour : Acting Squadron Leader Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer (115772) VC DFC*

23 December 2024

December 23, 1944, over Germany Acting Squadron Leader Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer (115772) VC DFC*, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 7 July 1920 – 23 December 1944 […]

Find out more

For Valour : Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf (37693) VC Royal Air Force
For Valour : Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf (37693) VC Royal Air Force

9 December 2024

December 9, 1941, over Malaya Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf (37693) VC, Royal Air Force 14 June 1913 – 9 December 1941 In late 1941, Britain’s […]

Find out more

For Valour : Acting Wing Commander Hugh Gordon Malcolm (33322) VC Royal Air Force
For Valour : Acting Wing Commander Hugh Gordon Malcolm (33322) VC Royal Air Force

4 December 2024

December 4, 1942 over Tunisia, North African Desert Acting Wing Commander Hugh Gordon Malcolm (33322) VC Royal Air Force, 2 May 1917 – 4 December, 1942 Over […]

Find out more

For Valour : Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton (Aus. 402745) VC Royal Australian Air Force
For Valour : Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton (Aus. 402745) VC Royal Australian Air Force

29 November 2024

29 November 1942, over Italy Flight Sergeant Rawdon Hume Middleton (Aus. 402745) VC Royal Australian Air Force,  22 July 1916 – 29 November 1942 Following the Allied […]

Find out more

For Valour : Acting Flight Lieutenant William Reid (122438) VC Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
For Valour : Acting Flight Lieutenant William Reid (122438) VC Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

3 November 2024

November 3, 1943, over Holland and Germany Acting Flight Lieutenant William Reid (122438) VC Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 21 December 1921 – 28 November 2001 After […]

Find out more

For Valour : Captain (Acting Major) William George Barker VC DSO** MC** Royal Air Force
For Valour : Captain (Acting Major) William George Barker VC DSO** MC** Royal Air Force

27 October 2024

Major Barker: signed portrait (RAF Museum AC97-93-240) 3 November 1894 – 12 March 1930 After 3 years of static trench warfare, on 21 March 1918 the Great […]

Find out more

Harrier GR3 XZ997: The Journey of a Falklands Veteran
Harrier GR3 XZ997: The Journey of a Falklands Veteran

18 October 2024

The Evolution of the Harrier: From Concept to Conflict Hawker had been privately developing an aircraft with vertical take-off capabilities since the early 1950s under the codename […]

Find out more

For Valour : Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Andrew Frederick Weatherby Beauchamp-Proctor
For Valour : Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Andrew Frederick Weatherby Beauchamp-Proctor

8 October 2024

Location: August – October 1918, over France Who: Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Andrew Frederick Weatherby Beauchamp-Proctor VC DSO MC and Bar DFC, Royal Air Force 4 September 1894 […]

Find out more

The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 6
The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 6

27 September 2024

Withdrawal and Reckoning ‘Market Garden was not a failure: it was 90% successful. We gained 90% of our objectives’. Field Marshal Montgomery in official 21st Army Group […]

Find out more

The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 5
The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 5

26 September 2024

22 to 26 September: Der Hexenkessel [Witches’ cauldron]/The Cauldron The attack to seize the Arnhem bridges having failed, the task falling to the troops remaining at the […]

Find out more

For Valour: Flight Lieutenant David Samuel Anthony Lord
For Valour: Flight Lieutenant David Samuel Anthony Lord

19 September 2024

Location: 19 September 1944, over Arnhem, Netherlands Who: Flight Lieutenant David Samuel Anthony Lord (49149), VC DFC , Royal Air Force 18 October 1913 – 19 September […]

Find out more

The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 3
The Royal Air Force and Operation Market Garden: Chapter 3

17 September 2024

The Assault, Sunday 17 September 1944 ‘No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy.’ Field Marshal Helmut von Moltke (1890) Direct RAF support for Market Garden […]

Find out more