Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
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225670
F/O. Malcolm Ravenhill
Royal Air Force 229 Squadron
from:Sheffield
(d.30th Sep 1940)
My late grandfather witnessed F/O Malcolm Ravenhill's Hurricane circling round over the field next to his house on what my mother describes as a horrendous day of dog fighting with ME109'S over Ightham in Kent. Within a few seconds the Hurricane plummeted to the ground and burst into flames. My grandfather desperately tried to get to the pilot but was forced to give up as unexploded ammunition was going off from the plane's machine guns.
My grandfather was deeply upset by this but he was later told by the RAF that F/O Ravenhill had been killed in flight and the plane circling was doing so until the pilot slumped forwards which then caused the plane to fall from the sky.
Malcolm Ravenhill is buried in City Road Cemetery, Sheffiled. His headstone reads "Malcolm Ravenhill, Flying Officer (229 Squadron) Killed in the Battle Of Britain, Sept 30th 1940 Aged 27 Years. One Of The Gallant Few.
RIP M Ravenhill. Lest we forget.