GEOFFERY BERNARD HAWKSLEY
1939 -1945
Geoffrey was born in London on 1st December 1920 and was the second son of Charles Worthington and Joan Constance Hawksley. He had an elder brother Mark Seaton and two younger brothers Adrian Charles Theodore, and Robert Francis and a sister Janet Mary.
Geoffrey was nine years old when he came to live at Cherwell in Bulmer Street. He went with his brother Mark to preparatory school in Norfolk, and for his secondary schooling he was a boarder at King Edward VI school in Bury St Edmunds.
In 1937 he left school and joined the Merchant Navy as a clerk to the Purser on the S.S Highland Princess.
In 1939 he volunteered for the RAF, as aircrew, and was trained as an observer. On Sep 3rd 1939 he was with the wellington Bomber Squadron at RAF Stradishall.
By all accounts Geoffrey was a lively and popular person, who liked to play the piano, and was a good amateur artist.
In 1940, he was posted to the Middle East, and in the October his squadron was sent to Greece to assist the Greeks against the possibility of an Italian invasion from Albania.
On November 18th at 0400 hrs, his aircraft crashed into a hill-side near the town of Podgorica, but after the war the coffins were moved to a Belgrade War Grave.
Rank: Sergeant
Trade: Obs.
Service No: 580826
Date of Death: 18/11/1940
Age: 19
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force 70 Sqdn.
Grave Reference: Coll. grave 2. E. 5-8.
Cemetery:
Additional Information:
Son of Charles Worthington Hawksley and Joan Constance Seaton Hawksley, of Bulmer, Essex