Sgt. Richard Frederick Marshall-Hardy
Royal Air Force 202 Squadron
from:Bradford, Yorkshire
My father, Richard Marshall-Hardy served as a wireless operator air gunner with 202 Squadron based in Malta and Gibraltar from March 1939. Based initially at Kalafrana, Malta, he flew in Saro England 2 flying-boats mostly on anti-submarine missions between Malta and Gibraltar. On 14th of September 1940 he was shot down by two Vichy French Curtiss fighters 40 miles off Casablanca. After 5 hours in the sea holding onto one of the wing floats he was picked up by a Vichy French submarine and taken to Casablanca. From there via Mediouna, Medea and Aumale internment camps he was transferred to Laghouat PoW Camp. Following his release from Laghouat in 1942 he spent 3 months in hospital in Morecambe before being shipped to Canada to learn to fly. After qualifying he became an instructor. On his return from Canada after the war he flew on the Berlin airlift and remained in the RAF until April 1962 having reached the rank of Squadron Leader.
My father died age 86 in 2005. I am presently writing about his wartime and post-war experiences as he told them to me (he never wrote them down) and welcome information from others whose fathers followed the same path. All the wartime photos were taken by my father.
