Name
Ronald William Hazard (Bill) Baxter (DFM)
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
18/11/1941
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Flight Serjeant
742962
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Distinguished Flying Medal
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Letchworth (St. Mary) Churchyard
On North Boundary.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
In honoured and loving memory
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Boys’ Grammar School Memorial (WW2), Letchworth Town Memorial
Biography
He attended Pixmore School in Letchworth and then went to the Hitchin Grammar School from 1030- 1936. A quiet unassuming boy, he matriculated and obtained a prefect's cap at school. He was a member of the School Scout Troop for many years and attended the pre-war Snowdon Camp. He qualified into the Civil Service in 1937 having earlier secured a position with Barclays Bank.
He joined the R.A.F.V.R. in 1938 and was given Service Number 742962. He was flying at Hatfield by mid-1939. His D.F.M., which was presented by King George VI, was awarded for outstanding and successful operations in the last six months of 1940. During this time he flew 31 operational flights, many of them over Germany, in Handley Page Hampden bombers. In 1941 he assisted with the training of aircrews as part of the Empire Training Scheme, possibly in Canada.
His death occurred during a training flight using a Manchester I (forerunner of the Lancaster bomber) at No. 25 Officers Training Unit three days before his intended marriage at St. Mary's Church, Letchworth to Miss Anita Thomas from South Wales.
He was the son of Richard and Emma Baxter of 16, Ridge Road, Letchworth and is buried "In honoured and loving memory" at the quiet churchyard of St. Mary in Letchworth with his parents’ deaths recorded on the same stone.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Paul Johnson - local historian, Hitchin Grammar School Chronicle, ‘RAF Bomber Command Losses’ by W.R. Chorley, Pictorial dated 21st Jan, 25th Mar and 25th Nov 1941
