Guy Rawstron Branch, EGM (27 October 1913 – 11 August 1940) was a

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 ...

fighter pilot and one 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 ...

". He was killed in action on 11 August 1940. Since his death occurred before the introduction of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

his next-of-kin were not given the opportunity of exchanging the insignia of the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

for the new award.

Early life

Branch was born on 27 October 1913 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of Charles Churchill Branch and Mary Madelaine Bernadette Branch (née Rawstron). He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. On 7 May 1937 he was commissioned 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 the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces ( Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary re ...

. On 25 March 1939 in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

he married Lady Prudence Mary Pelham, daughter of the 6th

Earl of Chichester Earl of Chichester is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The current title was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801 for Thomas Pelham, 1st Ea ...

Accident and award

On 8 January 1938 Branch was a student pilot was flying as a passenger in a

Hawker Demon The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

with Pilot Officer Crawley when it crashed and burst into flames at

RAF Upavon Royal Air Force Upavon, or more simply RAF Upavon, is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened ...

. Branch escaped but then returned to the aircraft to free the trapped pilot and pull him clear. For his actions he was awarded the

on 25 March 1938, the citation reading:

Battle of Britain

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 ...

Branch, by then a

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 ...

, was a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

pilot with No. 145 Squadron RAF. On 8 August 1940 he was credited with destroying two

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...

s. A few days later on 11 August 1940 while flying Hurricane

serial number A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...

''P9251'' on a mission to intercept German bombers, a large air battle took place off

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

in which Branch was shot down and killed. Branch was buried in the churchyard at

Quiberville Quiberville-sur-Mer (, ; before 2024: Quiberville) is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography This is a village based on tourism and farming, situated by the mouth of the river Saâne in ...

, France. His name recorded on the

Battle of Britain Monument in London The Battle of Britain Monument in London is a sculpture on the Victoria Embankment, overlooking the River Thames, which commemorates the individuals who took part in the Battle of Britain during the World War II, Second World War. It was unvei ...

, and at the

Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne The Battle of Britain Memorial is a monument to aircrew who flew in the Battle of Britain. It is sited on the White Cliffs of Dover, White Cliffs at Capel-le-Ferne, near Folkestone, on the coast of Kent. History It was initiated by the Battle o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Guy Rawstron 1913 births 1940 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford The Few Royal Air Force officers People educated at Eton College Royal Air Force pilots of World War II English aviators Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal Military personnel from London Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents