The Airmen's Stories - F/O R N H Courtney

Ronald Noel Hamilton Courtney was born on 25th December 1919 in Bury St. Edmunds and educated at Letchworth Grammar School.

He joined the RAFO and began his elementary training on 17th January 1938.

He was granted a five-year commission on 26th March and carried out his flying training at 8 FTS Montrose on No. 9 Course, which ran from 9th April to 29th October 1938.

With his training completed, he joined 151 Squadron at North Weald. He relinquished his RAFO commission on being granted an RAF short service commission in January 1939.

Courtney was posted to France, via Manston, on 13th May 1940 and was attached to 607 Squadron at Vitry-en-Artois. On the 14th he destroyed an unidentified enemy aircraft, on the 17th he destroyed two Ju88s and on the 22nd he destroyed another Ju88. He rejoined 151 Squadron at North Weald on 27th May.

On the 29th Courtney was attacked by Me109s over Dunkirk and baled out, wounded in the back of the neck and the right leg. He was picked up by the corvette HMS Shearwater and taken to Ramsgate Hospital. He returned to 151 Squadron on 18th July 1940 but did not fly again until 4th September.

On 13th December 1940 Courtney is believed to have been posted to the Middle East but no service details have been found. In February 1942 he was posted to 610 Squadron at Hutton Cranswick. On 15th May 1942 he damaged a Do17 and on 4th June he damaged a Ju88.

Courtney was later posted to the Far East. He was given command of 261 Squadron at Chittagong and later Chiringa from July to December 1943. He took command of 113 Squadron in January 1944 at Dimapur and later Tulihal and Palel, India.

Above image via Andrew Thomas.

Courtney was awarded the DFC (gazetted 8th September 1944) the citation stating that he had taken a prominent part in the squadron's operations in the Imphal Valley and had destroyed three enemy aircraft.

He was posted away from 113 Squadron in September 1944.

Courtney was awarded a Bar to the DFC (gazetted 29th January 1946).

He commanded 130 Squadron at Odiham from July 1946 to January 1947, 72 Squadron, also at Odiham, from February 1947 to February 1949 and 32 Squadron at Shallufa, Egypt from November 1951 to May 1952.

Awarded the AFC (gazetted 1st January 1954), Courtney led the 1954 Battle of Britain flypast.

A graduate of the Joint Services Staff College and the RAF College of Air Warfare, Courtney was made a CB (gazetted 1st January 1967) and retired from the RAF on 6th January 1968 as a Group Captain.

He died in December 1986 in Norfolk.

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November 2025 - Paul King kindly pointed out that since the above was compiled his medals and other material must have been lodged with the Imperial War Museum as their website shows the following very detailed account:

Ronald Noel Hamilton Courtney CBE DFC AFC was born on 25th December 1919 in Bury St Edmunds and grew up in Letchworth, attending Letchworth Grammar School.

In September 1937, Courtney was accepted for a commission in the Royal Air Force and undertook flying training at the Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School at Montrose and No. 8 FTS. Commissioned as a Pilot Officer in March 1938, he joined 151 Squadron, Fighter Command as a Hurricane pilot in October of the same year.

On 13th May 1940, shortly after the German invasion of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg began, Courtney was temporarily attached to 607 Squadron, operating out of Vitry-en-Artois aerodrome. Courtney flew several sorties while in France, claiming one enemy aircraft shot down, but the speed of the German advance meant that the squadron first had to retreat to Norrent Fontes aerodrome on 18th May before evacuating to Britain two days later, a hectic period in which Courtney lost his first log book.

After a short period of leave, Courtney returned to 151 Squadron on 27th May, and flew two offensive patrols over Dunkirk the following day alongside 56 Squadron and 264 Squadron. On 29th May, Courtney flew two more offensive patrols over Dunkirk with the squadron, but on the second of these his Hurricane (P3321) was hit by a Me109. Wounded in the back of the neck and right leg, Courtney attempted to guide the damaged Hurricane home, but when the engine seized he was forced to bail out over the English Channel. Courtney was picked up by HMS Shearwater and was treated at Ramsgate Hospital, after which he spent a month in the RAF Convalescent Home in Torquay.

Courtney returned to 151 Squadron at North Weald in July 1940 and was given command of the Station Flight as he had not yet been declared fit for operational flying. As part of this he oversaw training flights for pilots that had recently joined the squadron (one of these pilots was P/O FC Harrold, whose collection is held by the IWM). In September 1940, Courtney was declared fit for operational flying and officially took part in the Battle of Britain, however as the squadron had since been sent to Digby, saw little action.

In December, he was posted for service in the ‘East’ along with F/O CD Whittingham and Sergeant Leonard Davies, but Courtney’s move did not materialise (Whittingham and Davies were posted to 261 Squadron in Malta). From January 1941 to February 1942, Courtney was given operational rest and served as a staff pilot with No. 3 School of General Reconnaissance, Squires Gate and No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit, Detling.

After a brief period as a flight commander with 610 Squadron from April to August 1942, Courtney was posted to the Far East in September, first serving in a Fighter Operational Conversion Unit in India and then as Squadron Leader (Tactics) with Air Headquarters, Bengal and Headquarters 224 Group, Chittagong.

In June 1943, Courtney was appointed commander of 261 Squadron, a Hurricane squadron based out of Chittagong and Chiringa in eastern India. The squadron was primarily involved in escort duties and ground attack sorties against Japanese targets in the Arakan. Courtney then took command of 113 Squadron in January 1944, which was reforming and converting to Hurricanes in Dimapur after suffering heavy casualties as a Blenheim squadron the previous year.

After moving to Tulihal (and later Palel), just outside of Imphal, Courtney and 113 Squadron began flying ground attack sorties from March 1944, primarily in support of ground forces engaged against the Japanese offensive around Imphal and Kohima. For Courtney’s leadership of the squadron during the Imphal-Kohima battles he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in September 1944.

After being promoted to Wing Commander, Courtney served as a Fighter Operations staff officer with HQ 221 Group, overseeing air defence and ground attack operations during the 14th Army’s offensive into Burma. He was then appointed Officer Commanding (Flying) of 910 Wing during the advance to Rangoon, serving in this capacity until the end of the war.

From 1946 to 1949, Courtney commanded 130 Squadron (renumbered 72 Squadron in February 1947), a De Havilland Vampire fighter squadron, at RAF Odiham, and on 14th July 1948 flew one of six Vampire F3’s of 54 Squadron in the first jet crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the early 1950’s he served in Egypt, first as a liaison officer to the Egyptian Air Force and then as commander of 32 Squadron, after which he returned to England to serve at HQ 11 Group. He led the 1954 Battle of Britain flypast.

In 1956, Courtney studied at the US Air Force Air War College and then took up an appointment as an exchange officer with the USAF’s Eastern Air Defence Force (EADF) in New York, eventually leading the EADF Tactical Evaluation Team.

Promoted to Group Captain in 1959, he served as commander of RAF Leconfield from 1960 to 1962, after which he spent three years at HQ Far East Air Force, Singapore.

His final appointment was at HQ Fighter Command, serving as Group Captain, Operations (Ground Environment), where his responsibilities included all Fighter Command radar stations as well as the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station at RAF Fylingdales.

Courtney was awarded a CBE in 1966 and retired from the Royal Air Force in January 1968.