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The Airmen's Stories - P/O J K Haviland

John Kenneth Haviland was born on 19th January 1921 in Mount Kisco, New York. His parents were John Kenneth Haviland (1893-1925) and Phyllis Olive Brown (nee Aldridge 1900-1971).

His father was a US Navy officer, his mother was English.

He spent a lot of his early life in England, going to school there and being awarded Aero certificate 16927 on 20th January 1939 at Tollerton (his ID photo below).

 

 

He enlisted in the RAF Reserve in July 1939. Called up on 1st September 1939 he completed his flying training at 10 FTS and was posted to No 1 Army Co-Operation squadron at Old Sarum near Salisbury.

In August 1940 he volunteered for Fighter Command and ended up with 151 Squadron flying Hurricanes.

 

 

A mid-air collision on 24th September resulted in a force-landing at Waddington. Haviland served throughout the war, doing tours as an instructor, intruder operations and bomber support. He was awarded the DFC on 16th February 1945.

After the war he settled in Canada, later becoming a Professor at the School of Engineering, Virginia University in the USA on aerospace projects.

He died on 1st July 2002 and lies in Saint Paul's Cemetery, Albemarle County, Virginia, USA. .

 

 

Above: Haviland on a visit to the UK in 1990.

 

 

The American volunteers that flew with the RAF in the Battle are the subject of a book "The Few" by Alex Kershaw ISBN 978-0-718-14746-4

 

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