Wilfrid William Loxton (20 January 1909 – 2 November 1992), known as Bill Loxton, was a British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

. Loxton was born in Gretton, Gloucestershire, the son of Ernest Robert Loxton and Mary Ann Loxton (née Minett). After training as a carpenter, he joined the RAF on 30 April 1930. Following several promotions, he became Squadron Leader of No 25 Blenheim Squadron (Feriens Tego – Striking I defend). No 25 Squadron was formed at

RAF Montrose Royal Air Force Montrose or more simply RAF Montrose is a former Royal Air Force station in Forfarshire (now more commonly called Angus) in Scotland. It became the first operational military aerodrome to be established in the United Kingdom on 2 ...

, on 25 September 1915, as a Fighter/Bomber Squadron equipped with F.E.2bs. The Squadron became a nightfighter unit in 1938; it was re-equipped with Blenheim IFs that year, and also acquired Blenheim Vs equipped with A1 radar. In September 1940

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

s became available to the Squadron; these were operational on 10 October 1940. The Squadron took part in the

and its pilots joined the ranks of '

the few The Few were the airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the aviators of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy (RN) who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. The term comes from Winston Churchill's phrase " Never, in the field of human c ...

'. As a member of 'the few' Loxton is commemorated by name on the Battle of Britain Memorial which was unveiled by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and the

Duchess of Cornwall The Duchess of Cornwall is a title held by the wife of the heir apparent to the British throne. The Duchess of Cornwall is usually also the Princess of Wales, and she uses that title. The current title-holder is Catherine, Princess of Wales, Ca ...

on 18 September 2005.BBC News – Battle of Britain Memorial unveiled
/ref> He remained in the RAF until retirement, attaining the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

. He married Binkie Pattullo on 6 August 1938 and had two sons, Peter and

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, who became a well known producer in America. Peter married Heather Loxton; daughter of Archie Forbes. Loxton is buried, next to his son Peter, in

Bere Regis Bere Regis () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745. The village has one shop, a family-owned cheese barn, a post office, and two pub ...

churchyard, Dorset.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loxton, Bill Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Royal Air Force squadron leaders The Few 1909 births 1992 deaths Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Gloucestershire