1. Richard Haine received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the Second World War, including the first night fighter defence over Britain, and was involved in the first fighter attack of the war on German territory.
17 Facts About Richard Haine
1. 2.
Richard Haine was born in Gloucester on 1 October 1916 and matriculated from the Crypt Grammar School.
3.
Richard Haine spent his youth making aeroplane models and obsessing about flying.
4.
Richard Haine joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 and qualified as a fighter pilot.
5.
Richard Haine joined No 25 Squadron RAF, flying the Hawker Fury.
6.
Richard Haine flew in the first night patrol of the RAF in the war, in a Blenheim from RAF Northolt on 4 September 1939.
7.
On 28 November 1939, Richard Haine flew one of six Blenheims of No 25 Squadron to attack a seaplane base at Borkum, the first fighter attack of the war on German territory.
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On 10 May 1940, Richard Haine led six Blenheims of No 600 Squadron RAF against a key airfield at Waalhaven against an incipient landing by German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and parachute troops.
9.
Richard Haine was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the action.
10.
Richard Haine served as the commanding officer of No 488 Squadron RNZAF, flying the de Havilland Mosquito, until the end of November 1944.
11.
Richard Haine commanded RAF Turnhouse and then RAF Akrotiri, a large facility in Cyprus, for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1962 New Year Honours.
12.
At the Ministry of Aviation, Richard Haine was a staff officer, responsible for supervising flight testing of new aircraft.
13.
Richard Haine trained at the Empire Test Pilots' School, and flew the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in the United States.
14.
In 1965, Richard Haine was a participant in the funeral for Winston Churchill.
15.
Richard Haine was married twice; he had a daughter from his first marriage, which ended in divorce.
16.
Richard Haine thereafter devoted himself to sailing, a preferred avocation, and work as harbourmaster of a large Leamington marina.
17.
Richard Haine died on 30 September 2008, the day before his 92nd birthday.