The Airmen's Stories - F/Lt. P J Ferguson

Peter John Ferguson was born in Glasgow on 30th August 1915 and joined 602 Squadron Auxiliary Air Force on 16th July 1936.

He married Kathleen Campbell Connor in early 1939 in Pollock, Scotland.

Ferguson was called to full-time service on 24th August 1939 and shared in the destruction of a He111 and possibly another on 16th October.

Ferguson shared a Do17 on 15th August 1940 and a Ju87 destroyed and another damaged on the 18th. He was then attacked by one of the Me109 escort and hit in the port wing, elevator and fuel tank. Wounded and shocked, he decided not to bale out but crash-landed at Norway Farm, Rustington after breaking through power lines. He had a badly-strained back and was taken to Chichester Hospital.

On 4th September Ferguson probably destroyed a Me110 and on the 6th destroyed a He111, probably a Me110 and damaged a Ju88.

In early November 1940 Ferguson was appointed Personal Assistant to the Duke of Kent.

With recurring pain and periodic blackouts, Ferguson was not allowed to fly and the problem defied diagnosis. The Duke arranged for him to be seen by his personal physician. It proved to be a small shell splinter lodged between two bones and pressing against the spinal column. This was removed by a successful operation.

Whilst Ferguson was being treated, the Duke of Kent was killed in a plane crash in Scotland.

His subsequent service is currently undocumented until he was released from the RAF in 1945 as a Wing Commander.

He died on 1st March 1998 in Redhill, Surrey.