Ronald Berry

Ronald “Ras” Berry was born on 3 May 1917 in Kingston upon Hull, where he worked for the city council and studied at the Hull Technical Institute before joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1937, learning to fly at Brough. In October 1939 he was posted to No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, an Auxiliary unit flying Spitfires from Turnhouse. He fought through the Battle of Britain in 1940, claiming around nine enemy aircraft, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross that October for repeated success and determination in combat over south-east England. Berry later commanded No. 81 Squadron and No. 322 Wing during Operation Torch and the Tunisian campaign, earning a Bar to his DFC and the Distinguished Service Order in 1943. Remarkably, he flew over 400 sorties and was never shot down. He remained in the RAF after the war, rising to air commodore and receiving the CBE, and died in September 2000.