| Pilot signatures for this aircraft |
| Name | Info |
| Aubrey Mann | Pilot, Bostons and Blenheims. |
| Flight Lieutenant Albert E Gregory DFC (deceased) | Albert Gregory was born in Derby on 9th May 1917. Gregory joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1939 as an Airman u/t Wop/Air Gunner. Called up on 1st September and posted to Aldegrove in October to commence Air Gunnery training in December 1939, Albert joined 141 Squadron at Grangemouth as an Air Gunner flying in Blenheims before the squadron converted to Defiants. He could not fly in the Defiant because he was too tall for the turret, so transferred to 219 squadron based at Catterick in May 1940 with whom he served throughout the Battle of Britain on Beaufighters. In September 1940 the introduction of Radar equipped Beaufighters meant Albert Gregory retrained as a Radio Observer and in March 1941 his aircraft accounted for the destruction of a He111. In May 1941, he went to no 2 Radio School at Yatesbury for a Wireless Operators course and passed out from this in September 1941. Albert then served with 23 Sqn in Boston IIIs on intruder patrols over occupied France, Belgium and Holland on bombing and strafing missions, before spending time with 275 and 278 (ASR) Squadrons. On 2nd April 1942 he damaged two Do 17s and in July 1942, Albert Gregory was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and was commissioned in August 1942. Albert later served with 278 (ASR) squadron and was released from the RAF in November 1945 with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. In July 1947 Albert Gregory rejoined the RAF and in February 1948 he was posted to 52 Squadron at Changi, Singapore. The squadron was engaged in Army support supply dropping and troop carrying in the anti-terrorist campaign in Malaya. In 1950 following his return to Britain, Albert became a signals instructor and retired from the RAF in May 1955. Sadly, he passed away on 12th November 2010.
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| Flight Lieutenant John Mackenzie | Navigator on Bostons as 88 Squadron took part in the D-Day operations flying smokescreen and bombing operations. |
| Flying Officer Leslie Valentine CdeG | Entrusted with one of the RAFs most critical roles on D-Day, Valentine took his 88 Squadron Boston down to between 30 and 50 feet above the D-Day beaches laying smoke to protect the invasion fleet from enemy fire. Above and over his aircraft arched the trajectories of shells from the capital ships of the Royal Navy and the German heavy guns firing back. Before and after D-Day Valentine flew many sorties against tactical targets by both night and day. He flew two tours back to back, 60 operations in all. Valentine had originally joined the army and saw action in France in 1940 with the Highland Light Infantry. Gaining selection for pilot training in the RAF he was sent to Canada for training, returning to 13 Operational Training Unit at Bicester in January 1943. He joined 88 Squadron in May 1944.
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| Ft Lt Arthur Eyton-Jones DFC | Arthur Eyton-Jones joined the RAF in 1940 and flew over 1,000 hours operationally as a navigator on Bostons, Mitchells and Mosquitoes. He flew on the notoriously dangerous day time bombing offensive conducted by the RAF during the Second World War, during which he survived a ditching in the North Sea after flying he spent a short on the gorund at wars end. After the war he left the Royal Air Force and pursued a career in management with Littlewoods Pools before eventually retiring in 1985. He wrote a superb book Day Bomber. |
| Squadron Leader Charles Patterson | Charles Patterson joined the RAF on the outbreak of WWII and flew Whitleys. He switched to Blenheims in 1940 with 114 Squadron on anti-shipping operations over Norway. After a period instructing he briefly flew Bostons before converting to Mosquitoes with 105 Squadron flying mostly Daylight raids, but also the first night raid to Berlin. In January 1943 he was selected as pilot for the Mosquito Film Unit and flew Mosquito DZ414 (now restored) on over 20,000 operational hours both day and night. In September 1943 he converted 3 Ventura Squadrons to Mosquitoes under Group Captain Pickard. In total he completed an unprecedented 3 tours on Mosquitoes, his final tour being with 487 Squadron (New Zealand) mainly on strikes against V1 sites. On D-Day he flew the film unit Mosquito over the beach head during the invasion. |
| Squadron Leader Mick Maguire | Having signed up in 1936, he served as both a Gunner and Bomb Aimer with 88 and 9 Squadrons. He flew on many aircraft including Blenheims, Bostons and Lancasters and also spent time with the Air Ministry. |
