PDA

View Full Version : Air Marshal Sir Roy Austen-Smith obituary


Lyneham Lad
28th Apr 2021, 09:55
In The Times
Air Marshal Sir Roy Austen-Smith obituary (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4c323918-a77d-11eb-b000-cc13f23b4eff?shareToken=fc673cf4e7b5d5d0006f6e94e298b876)

Lengthy obit plus photos. RIP.
Austen-Smith was awarded the DFC for “gallantry and devotion to duty on operations in Malaya”, where he was a flight commander with No 33 Squadron, based at RAF Butterworth near Penang. He flew single-engine Tempest Mk II fighters and then twin-engine Hornets, attacking communist targets in support of British ground troops such as the Gordon Highlanders, Manchesters and West Kents, who were confronting the Malayan rebels at that time.

charliegolf
28th Apr 2021, 10:06
An enjoyable read which flopped a bit at the end with...

"By the end of his flying career he had flown a remarkable 25 types of aircraft and ten more of their variants, building up more than 2,000 hours of flying."

Just the one logbook then? I think not. RIP.

CG

Chugalug2
28th Apr 2021, 10:40
Another of that WWII generation, now all but gone. They all seem to have come out of the same mould, much like our own much lamented Danny42C, self effacing with a sense of humour that disguised a deeply felt sense of duty. We are all the poorer for their passing.

RIP, Sir. Duty Done.