War Vet Geoffrey Alan Osborn Dead at 89
Geoffrey Alan Osborn, who was awarded the prestigious George Medal for his service during WWII, died last week in South Carolina at age 89.
His obituary says, “Mr. Osborn was born in Woolston, England, and grew up in Bermuda. At the start of World War II, he learned to fly in Bermuda and subsequently joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. During the early years of the war, he was assigned to 51 Squadron, Bomber Command and flew Whitley and Halifax bombers on night missions over occupied Europe.”
In 1943, he was awarded the George Medal, the second level decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, for displaying ‘great gallantry in rescuing members of his crew from burning aircraft.’ Subsequently he was transferred to the Atlantic theater and flew maritime patrols for the remainder of the war.”
The scan below is from a newspaper of that era, and details his heroic exploits saying, “This officer has on two occasions displayed great gallantry in rescuing members of his crew from burning aircraft. When serving as an instructor at an Operational Training Unit, he was engaged in testing a Whitley, which crashed and burst into flames.”
“Flying Officer Osborn, who was thrown clear and was uninjured, immediately re-entered the aircraft and dragged clear the observer, who was badly injured. In effecting this rescue, Flying Officer Osborn suffered severe burns about the hands and was in hospital for six weeks.”
“In March, 1943, Flying Officer Osborn was captain and pilot of an aircraft which crashed shortly after taking off on an operational flight. The aircraft was soon enveloped in flames and ammunition and verey lights were exploding, Flying Officer Osborn was dazed but succeeded in extricating 4 injured members of the crew from the wreckage.”
“In so doing he was badly burnt about the hands, arms and face. Though in a state bordering on collapse, he did all he could to ensure that every member of his crew had been extricated before he was finally persuaded to receive attention.”
“He married Beatrice “Bobbi” Elaine Durham, Royal Nursing Corps, in November 1944. After the war, he was posted to Dusseldorf, Germany, Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia, and Standstead and Heathrow, U.K. to provide air traffic control training to local personnel.”
“On returning to Bermuda in 1966, he joined the Department of Civil Aviation at Kindley Field Airport, rising to Director of Civil Aviation, and subsequently Permanent Secretary for Transport, retiring to Bournemouth, England in 1985.”
