Name
Ian Charles Elkins
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/03/1941
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant Pilot
742893
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
WESTBERE (ALL SAINTS) NEW CHURCHYARD
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St. Saviour's Church Memorial, Hitchin, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin, Hitchin Boys’ Grammar School Memorial (WW2), Letchworth Town Memorial
Biography
Attending the Hitchin Grammar School from 1928-1934, he was of a cheerful unassuming nature, had a determination to overcome difficulties and had a wide circle of friends. He was awarded Skynner House colours and represented the school in the hockey second eleven. He was a choirboy and altar server at St. Michael's Church in Letchworth. On leaving school he qualified as a draughtsman at the British Tabulating Machine Co. Ltd.
In January 1939 he joined the R.A.F.V.R. and at the outbreak of war trained to become a Serjeant Pilot, having been given Service Number 742893. He enjoyed flying and was described as a born aviator, handling all types of aircraft. He flew both on operations and in experimental aircraft and was held in high regard by 59 Operational Training Unit in which he served. During 1940 he was injured in a flying accident but was able to land the aircraft safely. After a few weeks convalescence he was anxious to return to flying and had been posted to a new unit just before his fatal crash.
He was ferrying Hurricanes from Turnhouse in Scotland to Crosby-on-Eden when, over Newcastle, he flew into a barrage balloon and was killed. He is buried in All Saints Churchyard, Westbere in Kent. The cemetery, which is on the opposite side of the lane to the church, has been declared a nature conservancy area for fauna and flora. In consequence, the high vegetation, as the area reverts to nature, makes the graves difficult to identify and this grave is no exception. No trace could be found.
His parents were Henry and Alice R. Elkins of 197, Cambridge Road, Hitchin and he was an only child. At the time of their son's death, his parents were living in Herne Bay in Kent. A photograph of him appears in the Pictorial Newspaper dated 18th March 1941.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Hitchin Grammar School Chronicle, Herts Pictorial dated 18th Mar 1941, Paul Johnson - local historian, Visit to Westbere July 2000 by D.C. Baines
