Sqn Ldr John Heber Percy – OC 64 Sqn, RAF Church Fenton, 1939
Memories
Sqn Ldr John Heber Percy – OC 64 Sqn, RAF Church Fenton, 1939
Memories

Sqn Ldr John Heber Percy – OC 64 Sqn, RAF Church Fenton, 1939

Sqn Ldr John Heber Percy was OC 64 Sqn whilst at Church Fenton before and at the start of World War 2. Some extracts from his flying logbooks have kindly been sent to me by his grandson William.

Sqn Ldr John Heber Percy, believed to have been taken late 1938

John completed his initial training as a pilot at Cranwell in December 1929. After a posting to 43 Squadron at Tangmere he did a Fleet Air Arm Conversion course at Leuchars and joined No. 445 FSR Flight on HMS Courageous in July 1931.

After completing an Instructors’ course at Wittering in 1933 he was seconded to the South African Air Force for a year, then in May 1936 he became ADC to Sir Miles Lampson at the British Embassy in Cairo. That posting ended in October 1938 and the Church Fenton posting started in January 1939. So he’d done a lot of hours before the start of the War. His log has records up to June 1941. Unfortunately we don’t have his second volume.

Sqn Ldr Heber Percy’s logbook from May 1939. Highlights to note include the fact that he flew Blenheim L1462 to lead the Wing formation at the 1939 Empire Air Day held on 20th May. He then flew Tutor K6905 in an air race in the same display, followed by performing aerobatics in the same aircraft.

The day previous he had led a massed flight of 7 Squadrons over Grantham, Nottingham, Mansfield, Sheffield, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, Hull, Spilsby and Lincoln.
Sqn Ldr Heber Percy’s logbook from July/August 1939. You can note the obvious build up to war, with target practice, searchlight exercises and patrols all amongst the sorties flown
Sqn Ldr Heber Percy’s logbook from November 1939 to January 1940. 64 Sqn was detached to Evanton in Scotland for a short period to protect HMS Nelson.

Visit the excellent website at https://www.jjomeara.com/memoirs/ for more details about 64 Sqn’s detachment from Church Fenton to Evanton for the HMS Nelson protection task.