Nickname(s) Jimmy Died January 20, 2008 Role Fighter pilot | Name Harry Gill Rank Air vice-marshal | |
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Born 30 October 1922Chesterfield ( 1922-10-30 ) Awards Companion of the Order of the BathOrder of the British Empire | ||
Air Vice-Marshal Harry Gill CB OBE (30 October 1922 - 20 January 2008) also known Jimmy, was a British World War II fighter pilot who later rose as air vice-marshal and became the Director-General of Engineering and Supply Policy at the Ministry of Defence in 1976. He also received the King's Silver Medal at Bisley in 1951.
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Early life
Gill was born on 30 October 1922 in Chesterfield, England. He moved to Newark-on-Trent as a child and was educated at Newark Technical College. He trained as a pilot in the United States, he flew Hurricanes (with 279 Sqn) during the war and Mosquito FB.VIs (with 4 Sqn) in the immediate post-war period. His Mosquito, TA 122, is being restored and will be displayed at the de Havilland Museum at London Colney. He died on 20 January 2008.
Career
He was appointed OBE for his service in Aden during its evacuation in 1967. After his retirement, he remained closely associated with the Royal Air Force, serving for many years as president of the Newark Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association and he was also closely linked to the Air Training Corps (ATC), of which he was a member in his youth (with 47F Sqn at Grantham, when still an Air Defence Cadet Corps Squadron - forerunner of the ATC). In 1979, he retired from the RAF.