Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges, KCB, CBE, DSO*, DFC*

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We lost a remarkable airman last week, when Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges died on 4th January at the age of 88. During the war he won the DSO and DFC twice, and most famously flew (from RAF Tempsford) the clandestine missions over occupied Europe, dropping SOE agents. Eventually these missions developed into landing and pick-up operations, and he was among the first to land a Lockheed Hudson in a French field at night, with only the torches from the Resistance as a flarepath. This he did a total of six times. Among the people he brought out (and he had no idea at the time who they were) were the Resistance leaders M. Auriol and M. Mitterand, both of whom subsequently became presidents of France. He was very surprised, after the war when one, and then the other, sought him out and decorated him with the Legion d’Honneur. Towards the end of the war, he volunteered for the command of another Special Duties squadron in the Far East, where he flew Liberators and Dakotas, the latter once on a pick-up into a field in Japanese-occupied Thailand.

This link, to the obituary in The Times of Monday 8th January, tells of this and some of the rest of his remarkable flying life and very successful RAF career:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2536007.html

Apart from his aviation exploits, he was a thoroughly liked man. In particular, his many friends will miss him in the village of Plaxtol in Kent where he has lived for over forty years. His funeral is at Plaxtol Parish Church tomorrow afternoon, 11th January.

R.I.P a great airman.

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"We Landed By Moonlight" - great book!