Flying Officer Ian Robertson HYDE (114296)
296 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 11th March 1919
Date of death: 2nd October 1943

Killed in action aged 24
Commemorated on the Malta Memorial Panel 6 Column 2
He was born at Kensington, London on the 11th of March 1919 the son of the Reverend Robert Robertson Hyde, director of the Boy?s Welfare Association, and Eileen Ruth (nee Parker) of 8, Green Lane, Shepperton, Middlesex.

He was educated at the Junior King's School from September 1927 to December 1928. He went on to Sutton Valance School where he was in St Margaret's House from 1932 to 1936, after which he went on to King?s College, London University to study law from 1936 to 1939 and achieved LLB. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps there in 1939.

He was married in London in 1939 to Anne Mary (nee Hall) of Walton-on-Thames.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on the 15th of December 1939 but transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a Pilot Officer on probation on the 23rd of December 1941. He was posted to 296 Squadron where his Flight was part of a courier service for ferrying mail, freight and passengers. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 1st of October 1942.

Ian Hyde and his crew took off from RAF Andover on the 8th of December 1942 in Whitley Mk V BD556 on a leaflet dropping mission over Vichy in France. At the time he had accumulated a total of 334 hours of flying time on all types of aircraft of which 174 were on Whitley aircraft.
On its return to base weather conditions were poor with a very low cloud base. The aircraft was attempting to land at its base when it crashed at Penton Mewsey, near Andover and caught fire, injuring all but one of the crew.

The crew was: -
Pilot Officer Roger George Wallis (2nd Pilot) (Injured) (Killed in action 18th April 1943)
Sergeant Norman Lee Burton RNZAF (Navigator) (Abrasions) (Killed in action 2nd October 1943)
Sergeant Ivan William Hall RNZAF (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (Abrasions) (Killed in action 2nd October 1943)
Flight Sergeant W.W. House abrasions (Air Gunner) (Abrasions)
Flying Officer Edward Robert Spicer (Medical Officer, 296 Squadron) (Concussion)
Flying Officer Ian Robertson Hyde (Pilot) (Uninjured) (Killed in action 2nd October 1943)
Edward Spicer was on board to gain experience of operations to better understand the conditions on board and the strains on the aircrew.

2nd Pilot, Roger Wallis wrote the following on his recovery: - ?The injury was received when a Whitley V (Squadron letter U) flew into the ground and burst into flames near base after return from a leaflet raid on Vichy. At the time of the accident, I was sitting by the side of the aircraft?s captain, F/O Hyde, who was in charge of the flying controls. I was second pilot on this trip and had been flying the aircraft for one hour every two hours in order to relieve strain on the captain. Met. conditions were very bad; the cloud base in particular being exceptionally low.?

A report into the accident read as follows: -
?Pilot was returning from operations ?nickelling? over Vichy, on return to base, after some difficulty with W/T communications, he broke cloud at 800 ? 1,000ft and made a circuit. On approaching to land round again when at 200ft, he had 40 degrees of flap and opened up the throttle by degrees, raising undercarriage and gradually taking off flap. The aircraft did not gain height but sank into the ground at 80 ? 85mph ASI. It then caught fire.
Main factor ? failure of aircraft to gain height. Caused by 1) Inability safely to give full throttle straight away with 40 degrees of flap. 2) Rapid raising of nose with consequential loss of speed as throttle was opened. 3) sinking of aircraft due to 2) and to raising of flaps.
I do not consider pilot to blame. Orders have been issued that no more than 20 degrees of flap are to be used on approach until flattening out to land. Full throttle is possible with this setting. The pilot, observer and wireless operator did well to pull the two other occupants out when the aircraft was burning and I consider their action worthy of commendation.?

Ian Hyde and his crew took off from Goubrine II at Sidiel Hani in Tunisia, where the 1st Airborne Division had their headquarters, at 8.05am on the 1st of October 1943 in Albemarle GT 1 P1516 for a mail flight to Gioia delle Colle in Italy. The aircraft was carrying five bags of mail, four containers and four panniers of equipment for the Royal Engineers. Weather conditions were described as "thundery". Having reached its destination safely and picked up two passengers, the aircraft took off once again at 8am the next morning but went missing on its return journey. Its fate and those of its passengers and crew is unknown. The Luftwaffe made no claims in the area that day.

The crew was: -
Flying Officer Ian Robertson Hyde (Pilot)
Flying Officer Norman Lee Burton RNZAF (Navigator)
Flying Officer Ivan William Hall RNZAF (Wireless Operator)
Warrant Officer Class II Brendan Hilary MacIsaac RCAF (Air Gunner)
Captain Arthur John Waterman 1st Airlanding Squadron, Reconnaissance Corps (Passenger)
Major Roger Pertwee, 1st (Airborne) Battalion Border Regiment (Passenger)

He is commemorated on the war memorial at King?s College London and on the memorial at the Middle Temple. He is also commemorated on the war memorial at Sutton Valence School but he is not currently commemorated on the war memorial at the King?s School Canterbury.
Junior King's School

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