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500528 F/O John Patrick "Buck" Ryan Royal Canadian Air Force pilot 15 Sqd from: Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. (d.18th May 1942) After leaving Waimate College John met his future wife in Timaru and married in Melbourne after which they returned to New Zealand. John then travelled to the U.S. to study and, when he had completed the course, his wife joined him and they both worked for Bernar McFadden in Dansville, New York. While at Dansville, John Ryan learned to fly. When war broke out, they waited for their son (John Jnr) to be born (November '39) and then tried to get a booking for mother and son to return to New Zealand. Being war time, this took some time, but they finally secured a cabin on the Port Hunter. After their departure, John Ryan travelled to Canada to enlist in the RCAF, he trained with 11 OTU from 27 Jun 41, then joined 15 Sqn on the 1st of August 1941. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 16th of March 42. He was killed along with his crewmates on Monday 18th May 1942 he was 30 years old. The crew were: F/O Ryan S/L J.C.Hall DFC MiD F/L N.G.R.Booth Sgt A.Spriggs F/O J.P.Ryan RCAF Sgt R.Maycock Sgt J.B.Butterworth Sgt F.L.Sharp Sgt R.Nicholson Sgt D.J.Jeffs, the only survivor was taken PoW and held in Stalag 8b. For the full story see Don Jeff's Story Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please type the first part our your email in the first box (eg. john.smith) the @ sign is added automaticallly, please type the second part in the second box (eg. gmail.com). Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**