In memory of Flying Officer J N F Hanes and Flying Officer R M English
For sixty years I did not know what had happened to two of my best friends on the squadron who were shot down in 1945, just three weeks before VE Day.
The mystery was solved in May 2005 whilst
on a short visit to Italy. They had been brought back to Florence, where we had been based at the time, and laid to rest in the English War Graves cemetery, four miles east of the city, alongside the River Arno.
John Hanes had been detailed to perform a “Reccon" in the La Spezia sector, which was 90% 4,000 metre mountains, overgrown with a thick covering of trees. Bob English was his “Weaver" or in US 5th Army terms, to whom we were seconded, known as his "Wingman".
The Squadron
mounted several missions over the area in an endeavour to locate the crash site, without success. On the 14th April, we were ordered forward to Bologna before any further news could be obtained.
It is just possible to see the two blue pennants covered in plastic on small bamboo canes which were done on site, giving a few personal details and our squadron number.
- Reg Porritt
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