John Aubrey Harrison
At the height of WWII, Dad left Hampton School and at the early age of 17, convinced the RAF that he was in fact 18. Following initial training in Torquay (which involved of all things jumping off the end of the pier) and advanced training in Canada, he was awarded his 'Wings' at Yorkton a Canadian Prairie Town in 1941. Some of his most memorable exploits included, as a teenager, flying an over-laden Dakota solo without scheduled rest from Vancouver to Scotland via Greenland and Iceland, a journey that took an astonishing 22 hours. He went on to serve with 216 squadron in Cairo (Egypt), Corsica, Italy and France where amongst other things he trained with American Paratroopers. He took part in diversionary raids in preparation for the invasion of Southern France, missions that entailed flying at very low level (200ft) and the dark, something he described as 'tricky'. He later went on to serve in the Middle East, India and Africa. It was whilst in Asmara, Eritrea that he learnt the devastating news that his older brother Dick, who suffered from epilepsy, had died. After the War ended and on his return home, he discovered that his father was seriously ill and so to allay his father's fears for his son, ended his flying career with as he put it 'no regrets'.
On leaving the RAF he went on to join British European Airways, where he was to meet and later marry Shirley McGeorge; they eventually went on to have 3 children; Christopher, Martin and Jane.
Dad will be sorely missed by all of his family including his 4 grandchildren. He passed away in the early hours of 8th December 2019, aged 96, at a care home in his beloved Hampton.
