Richard George Arthur Barclay

Squadron Leader Richard George Arthur Barclay DFC was born on 7 December 1919 and flew Hurricanes with No. 249 Squadron through the Battle of Britain, in which he was credited with several victories. Shot down over France in 1941, he evaded capture — turning his uniform inside out and passing as a farm labourer — and made his way back to Britain. Throughout, against regulations, he kept a secret diary in exercise books, later published as a rare first-hand record of a fighter pilot’s war. In July 1942 he took command of No. 238 Squadron in the Western Desert, and on 17 July 1942, after scoring further victories, was shot down and killed in the fighting over the El Alamein battlefield. He is buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery.