Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Henri A. C. "Moustique" Gonay, (21 July 1913 – 14 June 1944) was a Belgian airman who was killed in action while flying with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Gonay was born in

Theux Theux (; wa, Teu) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 11,571 inhabitants. The total area is 83.36 km², giving a population density of 139 inhabitants per km². ...

, Belgium. He joined the

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

as a student pilot at the age of 18 in 1931. After the invasions of Belgium and France in 1940 he flew to England, where he enlisted in the

(RAF). After instructing pilots he requested to fly with an operational unit, he flew with

No. 123 Squadron RAF No. 123 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a British aircraft squadron in the First and Second World Wars.Jefford 2001, p. 58Orbis 1985, p. 3898 It was disbanded for the last time on 20 June 1945. History First World War The squadron was form ...

until being given command of

No. 263 Squadron RAF No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadron ...

on 25 February 1944. Flying

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

s, missions were flown against French coastal targets. Shortly after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, Gonay was wounded while attacking shipping. He was killed when his aircraft hit the ground in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, where he was originally buried in the Allied War Cemetery, Howard Davis Park, Saint Saviour. After the war, he was reburied at the Belgian Airmen's Field of Honour in

Brussels Cemetery Brussels Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Bruxelles, nl, Begraafplaats van Brussel) is a cemetery belonging to the City of Brussels in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the neighbouring municipality of Evere, rather than in the City of Brussels pr ...

References

External links

Henry Gonay dans les rues de Jersey
at Mil.be
Jersey road named after fighter pilot Henri Gonay
at

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonay, Henri Belgian World War II pilots Belgian Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Deaths in Jersey Belgian military personnel killed in World War II 1913 births 1944 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Belgian Air Component airmen