Richard Carew Reynell

Flight Lieutenant Richard Carew ‘Dickie’ Reynell was born in 1912 at Reynella in South Australia, into the family of the well-known winemaking estate, and came to England in 1929 to study at Oxford. Commissioned into the RAF, he served with No. 43 Squadron and from 1937 became a test pilot for the Hawker Aircraft Company, where his deep technical knowledge made him an outstanding demonstrator of the Hurricane. In August 1940 he was attached back to No. 43 Squadron to evaluate the fighter in combat, and was killed on 7 September 1940 during the first mass raid on London: shot down over south-east London, he bailed out wounded but his parachute failed to open. He is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, and left a widow and an infant son.