Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Richard Hope Hillary (20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943) was an Anglo-Australian

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 ...

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare 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 ...

. He wrote the book '' The Last Enemy'' about his experiences during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

Early life

Hillary was the son of an Australian government official and his wife (Michael and Edwyna Hillary)"Richard Hillary - A Fighter Pilot's Story
/ref> and was sent to England to be educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

. He lived with his parents until the age of seven; from then until he was eighteen he saw them only during the summer holidays. Whilst at Oxford it has been claimed that he was secretary of the

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the rowing club for male, heavyweight oarsman of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century. The Boat Race The club races agai ...

and president of the

Rugby Club Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

, but both claims are questionable. He rowed in the successful Trinity College VIII of 1938. He joined the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fifteen Univers ...

and the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

in 1939. Hillary was a descendant of

Sir William Hillary Sir William Hillary, 1st Baronet (4 January 1771 – 5 January 1847) was a British militia officer, author and philanthropist, best known as the founder, in 1824, of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.. Life Hillary's background was Q ...

, founder of the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

Second World War

Hillary was called up to the Royal Air Force in October 1939 and in July 1940, having completed his training, he was posted to B Flight, No. 603 Squadron RAF, located at

RAF Montrose Royal Air Force Montrose or more simply RAF Montrose is a former Royal Air Force station in Forfarshire (now more commonly called Angus) in Scotland. It became the first operational military aerodrome to be established in the United Kingdom on 2 ...

, flying Spitfires. The Squadron moved south to

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sut ...

on 27 August 1940 and immediately saw combat. In one week of combat Hillary personally claimed five Bf 109s shot down, claimed two more probably destroyed and one damaged. Hillary wrote about his first experience in a

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

in ''The Last Enemy'': On 3 September 1940 he had just made his fifth "kill" when he was shot down by a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

flown by ''Hauptmann''

Helmuth Bode Helmuth is both a masculine German given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name; *Helmuth Theodor Bossert (1889–1961), German art historian, philologist and archaeologist *Helmuth Duckadam (born 1959), Romanian forme ...

of II./

JG 26 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 (JG 26) ''Schlageter'' was a German fighter-wing of World War II. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French for ...

: Unable to bail out of the flaming aircraft immediately, Hillary sustained extensive burns to his face and hands. Before it crashed he fell out of the stricken Spitfire unconscious. Regaining his senses whilst falling through space, he deployed a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

and landed in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, where he was subsequently rescued by

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

''Lord Southborough'' (ON 688) from the

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

Station. Hillary was taken for medical treatment to the

Royal Masonic Hospital The Royal Masonic Hospital was a hospital in the Ravenscourt Park area of Hammersmith, west London, built and opened in 1933. The Grade II* listed building became the Ravenscourt Park Hospital in 2002, but this closed in 2006. As of May 2015 th ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London; and afterwards, under the direction of the surgeon

Archibald McIndoe Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew. Early life Archi ...

, to the

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-fam ...

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

, in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He endured three months of repeated surgery in an attempt to repair the damage to his hands and face, and went on to become one of the best known members of McIndoe's "

Guinea Pig Club The Guinea Pig Club, established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and allied aircrew injured during World War II. Its membership was made up of patients of Archibald McIndoe in Ward III at Queen Victoria Hospit ...

". He wrote an account of his experiences, published in 1942 under the title ''Falling Through Space'' in the United States, and as '' The Last Enemy'' in Great Britain. In 1941, Hillary persuaded the British authorities to send him to America to rally support for Britain's war effort. While in the United States, he spoke on the radio, had a love affair with the actress

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...

, and drafted much of ''The Last Enemy''. Hillary managed to bluff his way back into a flying position even though, as was noted in the officers' mess, he could barely handle a knife and fork. He returned to service with No 54 Operational Training Unit at

RAF Charterhall Royal Air Force Charterhall or more simply RAF Charterhall is a former Royal Air Force station located in the Scottish Borders and the historic county of Berwickshire between the village of Greenlaw and Duns. It was originally a First World W ...

after recovering from his injuries, for a conversion course to pilot night fighter aircraft.

Death

Hillary was killed in his 24th year on 8 January 1943, along with Navigator/Radio Operator Sgt. Wilfred Fison, when he crashed a Bristol Blenheim night fighter during a night training flight in adverse weather conditions, the aircraft coming down on farmland in

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

, Scotland. A funeral took place at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, London, on 25 January 1943 at 12:30pm, followed by the cremation of his body at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

, where he is commemorated on the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

memorial. His ashes were scattered from a

Douglas Boston The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...

over the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

by his former 603 Squadron commanding officer, Wing Commander George Denholm.

Commemoration

In 2001 a memorial to Hillary was unveiled at the site of the former

near

Greenlaw Greenlaw is a town and civil parish situated in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills on Blackadder Water at the junction of the A697 and the A6105 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of ...

. His love affair with Mary Booker, which lasted from December 1941 until his death, was the subject of

Michael Burn Captain Michael Clive Burn, MC (11 December 1912 – 3 September 2010) was an English journalist, commando, writer and poet. Early life Michael Clive "Micky" Burn, born 11 December 1912 in London, was the eldest of four children. The son of C ...

's book ''Mary and Richard'' (1988). He is today remembered in his alma mater of

, by an annual literature prize, a portrait outside the college library, and an annual lecture in his honour (initiated in 1992). Lecturers have included

Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...

Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. Bainbridge won the ...

(2000),

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

(2001),

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(2002),

Graham Swift Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born 4 May 1949) is an English writer. Born in London, England, he was educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York. Career Some of Swift's books have been filmed, ...

(2003),

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(2004),

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(2005),

Monica Ali Monica Ali FRSL (born 20 October 1967) is a British writer of Bangladeshi and English heritage. In 2003, she was selected as one of the "Best of Young British Novelists" by ''Granta'' magazine based on her unpublished manuscript; her debut nove ...

(2006),

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...

(2007),

Howard Jacobson Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' a ...

(2008),

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

(2009),

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

(2010),

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

(2011),

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

(2012),

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(2013),

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(2014),

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(2015) and

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

(2016).

Works

* Richard H. Hillary, ''The Last Enemy'' (1942), German Version: ''Der letzte Feind'' Zürich (1942), French version: "La dernière victoire" Londres (1944), Spanish Version: ''El último enemigo''. Barcelona (2012)

References

External links

*
Richard Hillary Memorial

Richard Hillary portrait on the National Portrait Gallery, London site

Hillary Memorial, Charterhall photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillary, Richard 1919 births 1943 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Australian World War II flying aces Australian World War II pilots Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Scotland Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Members of the Guinea Pig Club People educated at Shrewsbury School Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II The Few Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Writers from Sydney Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II