Richard Cummins Haine

Richard Cummins Haine was born on 1 October 1916 at Gloucester, where he attended Crypt Grammar School and apprenticed at the Gloster Aircraft Company before learning to fly. He joined the Royal Air Force as a direct-entry sergeant pilot in August 1935 and was posted to No. 25 Squadron, flying biplane fighters such as the Hawker Fury and Demon. By 1939 he was with No. 600 Squadron on Bristol Blenheim night-fighters, taking part in the RAF’s earliest war patrols. On 10 May 1940, during a costly daylight attack on the German-held airfield at Waalhaven near Rotterdam, he destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and damaged two Junkers Ju 52 transports before being shot down, an action that earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. He went on to command Nos 96 and 488 (RNZAF) Squadrons, claiming further night victories. Surviving the war, he rose to group captain, was appointed OBE in 1962, and retired in 1970. He died on 30 September 2008.