The Airmen's Stories - P/O J E P Laricheliere

Joseph Emile Paul Laricheliere was born in Montreal, Canada on 3rd December 1912, the son of George Victor Laricheliere and Marie Bernadette Diana Laricheliere (nee LaChance).

He attended the Ecole Superiere St. Louis in Montreal then McGill University, graduating in 1938.

He then moved to England to study Aeronautics at Cambridge University.

In August 1939 Laricheliere joined the RAF on a short service commission and did his elementary flying at 22 E&RFTS Cambridge.

With his training completed, he was posted to 6 OTU Sutton Bridge on 18th May 1940. After converting to Hurricanes he was posted to 213 Squadron at Biggin Hill on the 25th.

He claimed two Me110s and a Me109 destroyed on 13th August and two Me110s and a Ju87 on the 15th. He failed to return from combat off Portland on 16th August.

Laricheliere was 27. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 9.

Above image courtesy of Dean Sumner.