John Percy Devaynes Gethin

John Percy Devaynes Gethin was born around 1918 and volunteered for the Royal Air Force from the Irish Free State, one of many Irishmen who crossed to Britain’s colours despite their country’s neutrality. He was commissioned into the RAF Permanent Force and rose to the acting rank of Squadron Leader while serving with No. 203 Squadron, a Bristol Blenheim IV unit operating across the Middle East. His skill as a low-level attack pilot earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on 29 April 1941; the citation recorded that he led machine-gun raids against enemy aerodromes more than 350 miles from base, destroying five aircraft and a petrol lorry in a single sustained action and accounting for four more aircraft set alight in a second attack. Just eleven days after that award appeared in the London Gazette, Gethin was leading Blenheims of 203 Squadron in support of Arab Legion ground forces besieging Fort Rutbah, an Iraqi desert fortress whose garrison was loyal to the pro-German coup leader Rashid Ali; his aircraft, Blenheim IV L9174 coded ‘D’, was struck by heavy ground fire during the raid and came down in flames. Rescued by the crew of another Blenheim, he had been severely burned and died of his wounds in hospital later that same day, 10 May 1941, aged 23. He is buried in Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel, grave reference L.23.