Keith Taylor-Cannon was credited with the destruction of five German aircraft as well as one V-1 flying bomb.
17 Facts About Keith Taylor-Cannon
1.
2.
Keith Taylor-Cannon was sent to No 486 Squadron in 1942 and for the next two years flew extensively on a variety of operations.
3.
Keith Taylor-Cannon became commander of No 486 Squadron in February 1945 but was killed two months later after he was shot down while strafing German transport.
4.
Keith Granville Taylor-Cannon was born on 20 December 1921 in Omakau, New Zealand, to Lewis Lear Taylor-Cannon and Alice Louisa Taylor-Cannon.
5.
Keith Taylor-Cannon was educated at Alexandra District High School, where he was an active sportsman, playing rugby and cricket.
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Keith Taylor-Cannon went on to the University of Otago, where he studied at the School of Mines.
7.
Still a tertiary student at the time, Keith Taylor-Cannon joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in April 1941 as an airman pilot with the service number 412284.
8.
Once in England, Keith Taylor-Cannon was assigned to No 56 Operational Training Unit for familiarisation on the Hawker Hurricane fighter.
9.
Keith Taylor-Cannon returned to operational flying with No 486 Squadron, now equipped with the Hawker Tempest fighter, on 3 August 1944.
10.
Keith Taylor-Cannon was given command of the squadron's 'B' Flight.
11.
Squadron Leader Keith Taylor-Cannon has participated in a large number of sorties, and has led his flight and often the squadron with skill and determination, always pressing home his attacks whatever enemy opposition was encountered.
12.
Keith Taylor-Cannon's aircraft was hit by flak and he bailed out.
13.
Accounts of what happened next vary; a British prisoner of war reported that Keith Taylor-Cannon was wounded, taken away and subsequently died.
14.
Regardless, despite postwar investigations into how he died, Keith Taylor-Cannon's body was never located.
15.
At the time of his death, Keith Taylor-Cannon was credited with having shot down five German aircraft, with one of these shared with another pilot.
16.
Keith Taylor-Cannon is credited with a share in one aircraft probably destroyed.
17.
Keith Taylor-Cannon is responsible for having destroyed one V-1 flying bomb.