Geoffrey Phelps Longfield (4 December 1909 – 25 February 1943) was an English first-class cricketer and

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 ...

officer. Enlisting in the Royal Air Force in 1929, he played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the

Royal Air Force cricket team The Royal Air Force cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Royal Air Force. The team played 11 first-class matches: nine between 1922 and 1932, mostly against other branches of the Services, and another two in 1945 and 1946. Thei ...

in the early 1930s, before later serving in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

, during which he was killed on a mission while commanding 105 Squadron.

Life and military career

The son of the Reverend Thomas William Longfield, he was born at High Halstow in Kent, and was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ag ...

. Upon leaving Aldenham, Longfield enlisted in the

as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior 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. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in February 1929, with confirmation in the rank in March 1930. He was promoted to the rank of

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior 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. Flying officer is immediately ...

in August 1930. He made his debut in

for the

against the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in 1931; he claimed both of his first-class wickets in this match, dismissing

Alexander Wilkinson Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel William Alexander Camac Wilkinson, (6 December 1892 – 19 September 1983) was a highly decorated British Army officer and English cricketer. Australian born, he served with the British Army in both the World ...

and Adrian Gore. He made a second first-class appearance the following year in a repeat of the 1931 fixture. He was transferred to the class A reserve in February 1934, with a further transfer to the C class in December 1934. He was transferred back to the A class in December 1935, He was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant in January 1938. Serving during the

, Longfield was promoted to the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) 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. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

in December 1940. He was promoted to the temporary 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 ...

in September 1942, with seniority antedated to March 1942, and was placed in command of 105 Squadron, which had the distinction of being the first squadron to fly the

Mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

fighter-bomber. On 26 February 1943, he took off from

RAF Marham Royal Air Force Marham, commonly abbreviated RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Marham in the county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's ' ...

for an attack on

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

. While engaging the target, Longfield made a navigational error and collided with another Mosquito in the squadron. Longfield and his navigator, Flight Lieutenant Ralph Frederick Mills, were both killed, along with the crew of the Mosquito he collided with, piloted by Flight Officer Spencer Griffith Kimmel of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

. His replacement as commanding officer of 105 Squadron, Wing Commander John William Deacon, was killed the following day in a training accident in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Longfield was buried at Rennes Eastern Communal Cemetery. His brother, Tom Longfield, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longfield, Geoffrey 1909 births 1943 deaths People from Medway People educated at Aldenham School Royal Air Force wing commanders English cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France Military personnel from Kent Cricketers from Kent 20th-century English sportsmen