Hugh Richard Aden Beresford

Flight Lieutenant Hugh Richard Aden Beresford was born in 1915, a son of the vicar of Hoby in Leicestershire, and joined the RAF on a short-service commission in 1935. As ‘A’ Flight commander of No. 257 Squadron he flew Hawker Hurricanes through the Battle of Britain, sharing in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 and downing a Messerschmitt Bf 110 in the late-August fighting. On 7 September 1940 his squadron was scrambled against an overwhelming German formation over the Thames Estuary and Beresford was shot down; his aircraft crashed into the marshes of the Isle of Sheppey and he was posted missing. His Hurricane, with his remains still aboard, was not found until 1979, when he was finally laid to rest with full military honours.