Francis Victor Beamish

Francis Victor Beamish was born on 27 September 1903 in Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland, the eldest son of a local headmaster and one of four brothers who all served in the Royal Air Force. He entered the RAF College Cranwell in 1921, was commissioned in 1923, and served in India with Nos. 31 and 60 Squadrons before retiring in October 1933 with tuberculosis; he recovered and was reinstated as a Flight Lieutenant in January 1937. By the summer of 1940, holding the rank of Wing Commander with service number 16089, he commanded RAF North Weald and flew Hawker Hurricanes alongside his station’s own squadrons during the Battle of Britain — accumulating over 120 operational sorties at an age nearly double that of many of his pilots, and earning the DSO in July 1940 and the DFC in November of that year, his citation recording that he had destroyed one enemy aircraft with possibly seven more and that his “coolness and courage have proved an inspiration to all.” He went on to command RAF Kenley from January 1942, and on 28 March 1942 he took off in a Spitfire Mk Vb to lead the Kenley Wing on a fighter sweep over northern France; attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and last heard calling for a homing vector near Calais, he entered cloud and was never seen again — his aircraft and body were never recovered. He also holds the distinction of having first reported the German fleet’s position during the Channel Dash of 12 February 1942. Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish DSO and Bar, DFC, AFC, is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, Panel 64.