Reginald Llewellyn

Reginald Llewellyn (25 March 1914 – 6 August 2000) was a British flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He is credited with the destruction of at least fifteen aircraft.

Born in Bristol, Llewellyn joined the RAF in 1930 to train as ground crew. He subsequently applied to train as a pilot and by the outbreak of the Second World War had his wings. He flew extensively with No. 213 Squadron during the Battle of France and the subsequent Battle of Britain, claiming several aerial victories for which he would later be awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. He was wounded on 15 September 1940 which put an end to his operational flying for the duration of the war. He continued to serve in the RAF in the postwar period, holding a series of squadron commands before spending the rest of his military career as a staff officer. He emigrated to Australia in 1984, settling in Tasmania where he died at the age of 86.

Early life Reginald Thomas Llewellyn was born on 25 March 1914 in Bristol, England. In early 1930, when he was still fifteen, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) for training as ground crew. He qualified in late 1933 and the following year was sent to Iraq, where he served at the RAF station at Habbanyia. In 1938, having been promoted to sergeant upon completion of a gunnery course, he was posted to No. 27 Squadron on the Indian Northwest frontier. There he served as an air gunner on Westland Wapitis before volunteering to train as a pilot. He returned to the United Kingdom in late 1938 to learn to fly.

Second World War The Second World War had broken out by the time Llewellyn had gained his pilot's wings and in October 1939, he was posted to No. 263 Squadron as a sergeant pilot.

Later war service Llewellyn was unable to return to duty until August 1941 and the bulk of the remainder of his war service was as an armaments officer. promoted to flying officer the following October, and was made a flight lieutenant in November 1943. In June 1945 he was posted to No. 74 Squadron, which was based at Colerne and converting to the Gloster Meteor jet fighter, as a flight commander. He took command of No. 74 Squadron in September 1945 as an acting squadron leader. In January 1946, Llewellyn was sent to Palestine to take command of the Spitfire-equipped No. 208 Squadron. After six months there, he was sent to Italy to lead No. 87 Squadron, an appointment that only lasted a few months before he was given command of No. 111 Squadron in December. Operating Spitfires, this unit was based in Klagenfurt in Austria where it was part of the British Air Forces of Occupation. Llewellyn was the squadron's final commander before it was disbanded in May 1947. The remainder of his RAF service, which ended in March 1957, was spent as a staff officer.

Later life Returning to civilian life, Llewellyn worked as a safety officer for the United States Air Force for a time. In 1984 he emigrated to Australia, settling in Claremont, Tasmania. He died there on 6 August 2000.

Llewellyn is credited with having destroyed fifteen aircraft, one being shared with another pilot. Another aircraft claimed as destroyed was unconfirmed. He is also believed to have probably destroyed one more aircraft and damaged two others.