Air Vice Marshall Norman Hoad, AFC & Bar, CBE, CVO

"Air Vice-Marshal Norman Hoad, who has died aged 91, was imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, conducted electronic reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union during the Cold War and became one of the country’s leading aviation artists.
On the night of October 14 1944, Hoad was shot down in his No 61 Squadron Lancaster on the way to attack Brunswick. Two of his crew were killed, but the rest survived to spend the remainder of the war as PoWs. Hoad used the many hours of inactivity to develop his artistic talent. When Stalag Luft III was evacuated at short notice at the end of the following January, he and his colleagues marched westwards; some perished in the bitter winter weather before they reached overcrowded camps and were liberated in early May.
Hoad elected to remain in the RAF and spent the next few years as a flying instructor, which resulted in the award of an AFC. In 1953 he took command of No 192 Squadron, which had just been re-equipped with the B-29 Washington bomber. This long-range aircraft had been provided to the RAF under the American military aid programme.
The Korean War was drawing to a close, and tension between the Western powers and the Soviet Union had intensified. Intelligence gathering was now increasingly important, and Hoad and his crews collected electronic and radio intelligence of the Soviet’s air defence system and other military capabilities – including the air intercept radars carried by Soviet fighters.
During Hoad’s period as the squadron CO, the Canberra jet was introduced and gradually took on some of the tasks of the Washingtons. He ended his tour with No 192 early in 1956, and was awarded a Bar to his AFC.
Norman Edward Hoad was born on July 28 1923 at Brighton, and was educated locally. He entered the RAF when he was 18, trained as a pilot in what was then Southern Rhodesia, and returned to Britain in 1943 to complete his training as a bomber pilot before joining No 61 Squadron. He flew operations in support of the Allied landings in Normandy and attacked targets in Germany before being shot down."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11372402/Air-Vice-Marshal-Norman-Hoad-bomber-pilot-and-artist-obituary.html

 

This is a really neat story. Hats off to this man!