John Tattersall
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| Died : 10 / 11 / 2006 |
| Flt. Lt. John Tattersall (deceased)
Made his first attempt at becoming a pilot by joining the waiting list for Pilots of Manchester Auxiliary Squadron. He joined the RAF as a clerk in 1940 and remustered Aircrew in May 1941 and by June was on his way to the US Naval Air Service Station, Pensacola, Florida as a member of the first group of students under the TOWER scheme. On his first day solo in October 1941 he crashed and woke up in hospital with a headache and scratched eyebrows. Eleven days later he was flying again and finally gained his wings in May 1942 on Catalinas. Returning to the UK he spent some time flying 'Oxfords' before being posted to 131 OTU, Loch erne, N. Ireland. In January 1943 he passed out as an aircraft Commander and joined 210 Sqdn at Pembroke Dock in February. He spent the next ten months (some 700 flying hours) flying over the Bay of Biscay on Anti-Sub operations including Leigh Leight operations, some convoy and naval co-operation. In January 1944, 210 Sqd. disbanded and he returned for a short spell to 131 OTU before being seconded to BOAC in April 1944. With BOAC he flew on the civil version of the Sunderland and 'c' class flying boats thence landplanes - Arginaut, Comet, Britannias (102 and 312) and VC10s retiring in 1973 to a ground job as Flight Crew Executive until May 1976. He died on 10th November 2006. |