The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. R D Dunscombe

Born in Croydon on November 11th 1918, Raymond Douglas Dunscombe worked on the London Stock Exchange before the war. He joined the RAFVR in July 1938 as an Airman u/t Pilot. Called up on September 1st 1939, he completed his training, converted to Hurricanes at 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge and was posted to 213 Squadron on June 8th 1940. Dunscombe claimed a Me110 destroyed on August 15th. In late August Dunscombe was posted to 312 Squadron, then being formed at Duxford. On September 17th his aircraft was damaged in combat and he baled out, sustaining serious injuries when he landed in a tree. His Hurricane, V7228, crashed at Paley Farm, Folly Hill near Cranbrook. Commissioned in November 1940, Dunscombe underwent plastic surgery at some time at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead and was a Guinea Pig. Dunscombe was killed in Crete on May 31st 1941, as a Pilot Officer with 33 Squadron. His name is on the Alamein Memorial.

Photographs courtesy of Colonel C R Romberg RA, British Embassy Cairo