Totally off tangent, this afternoon I was engaging in some nostalgia and came across a blog that was dedicated to my former school house competitive events. The school is Windsor Boys School which I attended until age 15 and all of the school houses were all named after old boys who died in World War 2 (err, kind of relevant to the blog?). Anyway, I was in Warwick house and I always did wonder what he did and how he died. Well only 23 years later have I found out. Rememberance Sunday has been and gone, so consider this a belated post on the event. Here is the story of Joe Warwick, founder of my school house and as simple as it may be every soldier had their own story, some heroic,some less so, but all equally important nevertheless.
"Joe Warwick attended Windsor Boys’ School from 1934 to 1940. He joined the R.A.F. as a pilot soon after leaving school and his initial training took him to Scotland, Canada and America (by then also at war). In February 1943 Joe completed his final flying assessment in Florida, USA, successfully gaining his Wings as a Sergeant Pilot. On his return to the U.K. Joe was posted to IX Squadron, Bomber Command at their main base in Bardney, Lincolnshire where he quickly learned to fly the Avro Lancaster Bomber. On his 15th successive bombing run over Germany, Joe’s luck ran out. Having taken several hits from enemy anti-aircraft guns and with perilously low fuel, Joe Warwick attempted a crash-landing on British soil in poor visibility. His Lancaster hit a tree and crashed at Markham Clinton in Nottinghamshire. Pilot officer Warwick rests at St. Mary’s Church, Winkfield, where he had been a chorister and bell-ringer."
By Mary Davis
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