Wing Commander Malcolm Scholes (17 October 1924 – 11 November 2008) was a British
Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot most notable for completing two tours of operations in World War II with Bomber Command's
Pathfinder Force whilst still a teenager.
Scholes was educated at Wakefield Technical College. He joined the RAF on his 18th birthday. He completed 54 missions with
Bomber Command during the Second World War, which saw his aircraft hit by
flak 11 times. His citation for the
DFM stated that he had "set an example of tenacity and enthusiasm to the rest of the squadron".
After World War II ended he was stationed in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, and was appointed
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in 1948
London Gazette
/ref> for "his distinguished service and his devotion to duty which has been far above the normal requirements of the service". He later served at RAF Biggin Hill and with the RAF Regiment
The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...
. His last post was to recruit the next generation of RAF personnel, from which he retired in 1978.
References
1924 births
2008 deaths
People from Wakefield
People educated at Wakefield Technical College
English aviators
Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal
Members of the Order of the British Empire
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