Raymond Hiley Harries, (1916 – 14 May 1950) 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

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

of 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 ...

. Harries scored 15 victories against enemy aircraft, as well as three shared kills, two probable kills and five damaged during the war. Harries is also credited with the destruction of a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

Early life

Born in South Wales in 1916, Harries was a dental student at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

when war broke out.

Second World War

Joining 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 ( ...

(RAFVR) in September 1939, after training Harries was posted to No. 43 Squadron at

Drem Drem is a small village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is approximately east of Edinburgh and is close to Haddington (to the south), North Berwick (northeast), Dirleton (north) and Gullane (north west). It has a railway station on the Edinbu ...

in Scotland. He was then posted on 8 July 1941 to No. 52 Operational Training Unit at Debden as an instructor. In February 1942 he joined No. 131 Squadron RAF, based at

Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and Community (Wales), community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. In 2011 the community had a population of 645. History Ancient ...

as a flight commander, and claimed his first kill, a

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

, soon after. He served with the unit until December 1942, when he became commanding officer of No. 91 Squadron, and in April 1943 received the new Mark XII Spitfire and were based at

Hawkinge Hawkinge ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe (District), Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The original village of Hawkinge is actually just less than a mile (c. 1.3 km) due east of the present village ...

. Harries was the most successful pilot to fly the

Rolls-Royce Griffon The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240 cubic inch, cu in) Engine displacement, capacity, 60-degree V12 engine, V-12, liquid-cooled Aircraft engine, aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with compan ...

powered

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

, scoring 11 kills in the type, including a brace of

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

s on 25 May 1943. Flying a Spitfire XII, Harries intercepted the Fw 190s from SKG 10: The Fw 190 was thought to be Fw 190A-5 Wrk Nr 2511 of 6./SKG 10, flown by ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'' Josef Keller. In June the squadron moved to

Westhampnett Westhampnett (or West Hampnett) is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the district of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located northeast of Chichester on the former A27 road, now by-passed. The village is pre-Norman and is home ...

to form a Mk XII fighter wing with No. 41 Squadron. On 18 July 1943 Harries shot down three Bf 109s while flying MB831. In doing so he became the first pilot to reach five kills in the Griffon-engined Spitfire. Harries became

wing leader Wing leader, or wing commander (flying), denotes the tactical commander of a Commonwealth military wing on flying operations. The terms refer to a position, not a rank, although the role was usually taken by an officer ranked wing commander. The ...

in August 1943, and by November, had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and a

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO). In early 1944 Harries went to the United States, to lecture on fighter tactics, only to return and become wing leader of No. 135 Wing, 2nd TAF, in the spring of 1944. On 22 September 1943 Harries claimed one Fw 190 shot down and another as a probable. The Westhampnett Wing were the highest scoring Wing in Fighter Command for the month of September, claiming 27 kills. On 20 October 1944 Harries shot down a pair of

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

Gs near

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, his last kills in the type. In January 1945 he underwent a conversion course on the

Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to a ...

, prior to the wing being re-equipped, but was posted then to 84 Group as Wing Commander/Training.

Postwar service

After the war Harries was awarded a bar to the DSO, and served as commanding officer

No. 92 Squadron RAF Number 92 Squadron, also known as No. 92 (East India) Squadron and currently as No. 92 Tactics and Training Squadron, of the Royal Air Force is a test and evaluation squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It was formed as part of the ...

in 1949. On 14 May 1950 he died while flying a No. 92 Squadron Gloster Meteor F4 when it ran out of fuel and crashed near Sheffield, Yorkshire. His funeral was held at

RAF Linton-on-Ouse Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse or more simply RAF Linton-on-Ouse is a former Royal Air Force station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield (Brit ...

on 18 May 1950.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Thomas, Andrew. (2008). ''Griffon Spitfire Aces''. Osprey Publishing, London, England. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harries, Raymond 1916 births 1950 deaths Royal Air Force wing commanders Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II flying aces English aviators Welsh aviators British recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II People from Llandeilo Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1950 Military personnel from Carmarthenshire