254904 Flt.Sgt. Derrick Charles North Burton Royal Air Force 159 Squadron from:Barton Lodge, Wellington Road, Bilston (d.9th Feb 1945) Derrick Burton was the beloved only son of Alfred Edgar Burton and Gwendolyn Victoria Burton, nee North. Derrick lied about his age in order to join the Royal Air Force in 1940, at the age of 16, two years earlier than the minimum age. He was following in his father's footsteps, as Alfred Burton had been a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in WWI, serving in France.
Derrick's older sister, Dilys, and his twin sister, Doreen, both also volunteered and served in the WRAF during WWII. Dilys rose to the rank of sergeant and served in Bomber Command and in Egypt. Doreen was a radar operator.
Derrick was universally adored. His older sister recalled how, as a child, he would spend his own pocket money and then come to take his twin sister's. No-one could resist his charm and wit, as well as his loving nature. He was the life and soul of the party and would regale his sisters with stories of games which required participants to make the tour of the mess without their feet touching the ground.
Early in 1945, Derrick's twin sister remembered blacking out and seeing an image of a plane crashing out of the night's sky in flames. It was later found that Derrick's aircraft had caught fire in mid-air whilst flying south of Moulmein, and crashed to the ground resulting in the death of the entire crew on 9th February that year. When he was reported to be missing in action, his older sister, Dilys, took a posting to Egypt, thinking that it was nearer to Burma and would enable her to go to look for him. Of course, this was a fanciful idea.
Gwendolyn never recovered from the loss of her son.
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