255687 F/Lt. Kenneth Gill CdG.Royal Air Force 342 (Lorraine) Squadron from:West Bridgford, Nottingham Having taken his civilian pilot's licence as a young man in the late 1930's, my father, Kenneth Gill was welcomed into the RAF as a Trainee Pilot Officer at the outbreak of war. He ended his service in the rank of Flight Lieutenant. On more than one occasion, he piloted Field Marshall Montgomery and, at the end of the war, literally on V.E. Day the 8th of May 1945, he flew the high ranking war criminal (and former Austrian Head of State), Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to his trial at Nuremberg and subsequent execution, courtesy of Mr Albert Pierrepoint, in October 1946. It's all in his Logbook.
Much of Dad's war was spent ferrying aeroplanes and high ranking staff to various locations all around Britain, so he had experience of many different aircraft, including those iconic Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes. His combat training, however, was for twin-engine light bombers and, in the Spring of 1944, he carried out an incredible 31 bombing missions in his fast and very powerful (2x1000hp) American-built Boston IIIA seconded to the famous French Groupe Lorraine (342 Squadron) which was based at Hartford Bridge during the war. These missions were mainly carried out over Northern France as part of the softening up process during the build-up to the D- Day landings. The payload was usually 4 x 500-pound bombs and his log-book typically lists targets such as marshalling yards, ammunition dumps and enemy troop concentrations.
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