David Kennedy Raikes
Person details
| Forename(s) | David Kennedy |
|---|---|
| Surname | Raikes |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Regiment | RAFVR |
| Age | 21 |
| Death | Missing, presumed killed in action. Bomber and bodies found July 2011 |
| Place of Death | Western Europe > Italy |
| Date of Death | 21/04/1945 |
| Year of Entry | 1938 |
| House Letter | B |
| School Notes | Exhibitioner; Gibbs Scholar; Adam Fox Essay Prize; Poet |
| Comments |
His poetry was published posthumously: a copy is in the school library. The David Raikes Poetry Prize is awarded in his memory. War record of 18 Squadron http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno18squadron.cfm http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/18_wwII.html The remains of his bomber and crew were discovered in Italy in July 2011. Report in the Daily Telegraph, Monday July 25, 2011. http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:DSTC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=138B9759C795D560&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FDABBB6DFD17910 Letters about David Raikes are in the Wrinch Collection in the School >more> Archives. May 22. 1945 Gentle and I are so grateful to you for your letter. This tribute to David, coming from you who knew and understood him means more to us than I can say... ... He would be very content to know what you had written about his Radley life... I feel that you knew our David just as we in the family did. ... Some time ago I nearly wrote and asked you if you would look at some poems David left behind when he went abroad. Most of them were written at Radley and some you may have seen... ... We have no further news beyond the bare fact that he took off on April 21 to attack a target in support of the ground troops of the 9th Army in the crossing of the Po ... We are still hoping... Wilfred Raikes, G Social, 1906. Council Member 1939-57 |
| Commonwealth War Graves Commission Link | https://www.cwgc.org/find-record... |
| Unit | 18 Squadron |
| Prefect | - |
| Military Decorations | |
| Album Number | 23 |
| Battle | |
| Previous Regiment | |
| Burial or Cemetery | Memorial > Malta |
| Citations | |
| Archives | Correspondence file in OR files in Radley Archives |
| Post School | - |
| Prep School | Brambletye |
| Prisoner of War | |
| Radlein Obituary |
June 17 1945. Recorded as missing March 10 1946. Missing from air operations in North Italy, on April 21st, 1945, and now presumed killed, David Kennedy Raikes (Eason's, B, 1938-42). Sergt. Pilot R.A.F.V.R The sixteenth member of the family and the second son of W.T., David Raikes entered the school as an exhibitioner in 1938. His fair hair and a voice that affectionately earned for him the name of Honky early made him conspicuous, and he developed a personality of a rare and unusual type. He was a very fair classic and the winner of the Gibbs Scholarship, but his real interest was in literature. He was a gifted writer of English and his Adam Fox Essay and numerous other works, including many poems, showed that a brilliant literary career might have been his had he decided to take it up. His shape did not lend itself to athletic prowess, but he made an excellent bow in a good war-time eight, which won the Senior Eights at the Oxford Regatta in 1942. He took up flying with the same enthusiasm he applied to all his pursuits and was quick to make friends with those whose lives had been different from his. His family have been so bound up with the fortunes of Radley, that their loss is all the more Radley's loss. |
| Service Number | 1807677 |
| Place of Birth |
