Geoffrey Warnes

Squadron Leader Geoffrey Berrington Warnes, (22 October 1914 – 22 February 1944) was a British pilot who flew with No. 263 Squadron RAF during the Second World War. He was described by Group Captain Johnnie Johnson as a "gay, cheerful character" who was a "leader of men".

Early life Warnes was born on 22 October 1914, the son of Clifford and Dorothy Warnes. As a child he lived in Headingley, Leeds; he was educated at Cockburn High School, leaving in 1931 "to work in an office". He was a member of the Civil Air Guard where he learnt to fly with the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club at Yeadon Aerodrome, his instructor was "Ginger" Lacey (later squadron leader). He played rugby with Headingley Rugby Club (now Leeds Tykes) from 1936 until the outbreak of war.

War service At the outbreak of the Second World War, Warnes volunteered as a pilot, but was rejected because he wore glasses and his eyesight was too bad to be corrected by lenses in flying goggles. He was posted to France, but on returning after the Fall of France, he was posted to a barrage balloon squadron. for training as a flying instructor. He accumulated 400 hours teaching trainee RAF pilots on Tiger Moths, He was posted to No. 263 Squadron RAF at Charmy Down in Somerset. 1943 brought considerably more action than the previous year, chiefly the bombing of shipping and railway lines in northern France, along with more routine work. Geoffrey Warnes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 17 February 1943 and the Distinguished Service Order on 13 June that year. Two days after which he completed his tour of duty and was posted as second-in-command of operations at No 10 Group headquarters. The following is a text extract from the squadron records:

During that time the work of the Squadron … was largely the personal creation of S/Ldr G B Warnes. Briefly he was a strict disciplinarian who combined a fierce and forthright manner with personal kindness; a Commander who never left the least doubt about what he wanted and who consistently obtained these qualities because he himself consistently displayed them: he himself did even more than he required of others. As a tactician S/Ldr Warnes may have some place in the history of the War, as the creator of medium-level dive bombing by fighter-bombers (…). His notes on shipping attacks … have been adopted as a Fighter Command Tactical Memorandum.

On 5 December 1943, Warnes returned to active duty with his squadron. The men had moved by road to Ibsley, their new planes being flown over by another squadron. His first task as CO was develop the squadron's tactics with their new aircraft. There were no more operational flights until February. From now on, they would be flying this single-engined strike fighter, which could carry ground-attack rockets or a small bomb load. Typhoons had been flown by squadrons as early as September 1941, but its engine was still giving concern at the end of 1943 – it had problems which would not be cured until the end of the war was near. After flying a reliable twin-engined aircraft, pilots felt much less secure, aside from the usual operational dangers, they would be flying to northern France over 60–120 miles of open sea with only one, occasionally unreliable, engine.

On 1 February 1944, the squadron came back into operational readiness at RAF Beaulieu. Operations were mainly conducted over the Cherbourg peninsular and included attacks on V-weapon launch sights. On 12 February, Warnes shot down a Dornier 217 over Brittany and the next day he chased and destroyed a Messerschmitt 109F near Chartres.