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Account of Pilot Officer Pattullo's Memorial Ceremony held on 25/10/05 I have always had a great interest in military aviation history and, in particular, the Battle of Britain. During a visit to a museum in Purfleet, Essex in 2001 1 picked up a copy of a small booklet called "The Search for One of the Few, which was written by two local retired men Norman Jennings and Geoff Walton. It was a very moving story of how one of the authors, Geoff Walton, in October 1940 as a boy aged nine had witnessed the crash of an RAF Hurricane Fighter aircraft following air combat in the skies over Southern England with the German Luftwaffe. Geoff saw what he thought were the pilot's last gasps of life and how it traumatised him so much that for 50 years he told no-one of what he saw, not even his mother. In 1990 during the 50th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Britain he decided he wanted to know who the pilot was and the story behind how he came to be there on that day. After a school reunion of wartime pupils at a local school Geoff met retired schoolteacher Norman and together they researched the story behind Pilot Officer William Blair Pattullo. "Billy" Pattullo was only 21 years old when he gave his life in combat on 25 October 1940. He was born in Chile to ex-patriot parents and was educated in Dundee, Scotland and later Chile. He completed National Service in Chile as a fire fighter and then worked for the British American Tobacco Company before working his passage to Britain in 1939 in answer to a call to arms of his paternal country's mobilisation in preparation for World War II. After being trained at Cranwell and commissioned, he graduated flying training just in time to join 46 Fighter SQN for the Battle of Britain. He flew continuously throughout the summer of 1940, even on loan to 151 and 249 SQNS. Despite being shot down and wounded in the face in early September he demanded a return to operational flying. Up until the point of the morning of his final flight he had added a seventh kill to his list of victories. It all ended at precisely 12.07pm as his plane crashed into a house in Harold Park, Romford, Essex. After being pulled from the wreckage he passed into a coma due to the pain of his injuries and died the following evening in hospital. Despite a few witnesses to the events, the house was soon patched up and all traces buried in the hushed archives of wartime Britain. Therefore for 65 years thousands of people have walked and driven past the house situated on one of the main arterial routes in-and-out of London not knowing of the sacrifice which occurred at that very spot. Around about the summer of 2003 1 identified the house involved in the crash and this started me thinking about a possible memorial to this young man's role in the defence of our country all those years ago. At that time I was involved in sponsoring the Battle of Britain Historical Society in their aims fora national monument near Westminster on the Thames to honour all those fought in that momentous Battle of 1940. This monument was due to be unveiled in September 2005 and it was a month before this I finally plucked up the courage to approach the present occupants of the house to ask if it would be possible in someway to honour Billy's memory. Lynne and Les Conway, the owners of "Keiray" house were completely unaware of the crash ever taken place even though they had lived there for 27 years. They were not approached when the book was written and had not seen a copy since it was published in 2001. After providing them with a copy of the book and allowing them time to digest its contents, they were only too happy to give their permission to help me in my plans to honour Billy's memory. I had a very short time-frame in which to complete this because of the looming 65thanniversary date of 25 October and my impending deployment to the Falkland Islands in mid-November. What started out as a very small low key affair of half a dozen people placing a plaque with a few words of remembrance, quickly snowballed into quite a prestigious local calendar event with even international connections. One phonecall led to another and soon we were talking a lot of catering and flypasts with minute-by-minute ceremonial timings! During the planning stage, I had contact with the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Havering, Air Commodore Brian Batten RAF rtd, the Personal Assistant to the Chilean Ambassador to the UK, Lord Norman Tebbit and a host of local MPs, councillors and civil dignitaries. In the final week running up to the event I finally tracked down the authors of the book and invited them to attend. It was an honour to meet the people that through their research and dedication had inspired me to embark on the project in the first place. On the Saturday before the unveiling I was, very much to my surprise, put into contact with Mrs Annette Martin from Scotland, the 90-year-old sister of Billy. 1 was very pleased to invite her as guest of honour to come and unveil the plaque along with other members of her family. The day finally arrived and thanks to help from family and friends and with some great contributions from interested organisations and individuals everything was set to go. The service began at I0.55am at St Paul's Church, Harold Hill with a short memorial service attended by approximately 100 people. The guests included Mrs Martin, her daughter Mrs Patricia Jones, grandson Mr Simon Jones, the Mayor and Mayoress of Havering and Counsellors Patricia and John Mylod. Representing Chile was their Air Attachè Group Captain Hugo Tilly, Head of the Chilean Air Force Mission to the UK. Following the service, the party moved to the crash site at "Keiray House" on the Al2 Colchester road for the plaque unveiling and act of dedication. The gathered people present at the house increased to about 150 and was presided over by the Rev Russell Moul, vicar of St Paul's Church, who called forward Mrs Martin to unveil the plaque to tremendous applause. Then followed the playing of the last post by a bugler, Geoff Fuller, from the Salvation Army and a two minutes' silence, then Reville. Then Flt Lt Ian Forster from RAF Coltishall laid a wreath on behalf of the RAF and then those attending laid various other floral tributes. At precisely 12.07pm a Boeing Stearman, a wartime training biplane, flown by Mr Timothy Lyons flew over the house dipping his wing in salute and continued to circle the house a couple more times before waggling his wings and flying off into the very bright sunshine which was very reminiscent of the long, hot summer of 1940. After the act of dedication and a photo call for all involved in the ceremonies the party retired to St Paul's Church hall for refreshments and the chance to share their feelings about the event. There was a small display relating to Billy Pattullo's short, but very busy life and a chance to purchase a copy of the book that started it all off. Guests had the opportunity to sign a book to record their memories and feelings about the day and a collection of £100 was taken to be shared between the RAF Benevolent Fund and the Redden Court School Memorial Fund, the producers of the book. One of the Few, his Sacrifice no longer forgotten. Pilot Officer Pattullo's Memorial Ceremony held at North Weald Airfield on 25th of October 2010 |
