John Waddingham

John Waddingham was born in late 1919 at Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, and was educated at Hymers College in Hull before joining the Royal Air Force on a short service commission in April 1938, completing his flying training at No. 9 Flying Training School, Hullavington. After a period as a staff pilot at No. 1 Air Observer School, North Coates, he joined No. 141 Squadron in early July 1940, flying Boulton Paul Defiants during the Battle of Britain. On 16 September 1940, piloting his Defiant with Sergeant A.B. Cumbers as air gunner, he destroyed a Heinkel He 111 and probably shot down a second into the sea — an action that contributed to the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on 18 March 1941. By 1942 he had transferred to No. 89 Squadron and was serving as a Flight Lieutenant in the Middle East, flying Bristol Beaufighters on night-fighter duties from Malta. On the evening of 27 September 1942, returning from patrol in Beaufighter V8268, his aircraft was mistaken for a hostile and engaged by Malta’s own anti-aircraft defences on approach to Luqa; forced to crash-land after losing height, he sustained burns from which he died in hospital from shock the same day. Flight Lieutenant Waddingham is buried at Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery.