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For detailed biographies of key RAF personnel (Air Commodore and higher) there is already an excellent website: www.rafweb.org
Only RAF officers of ranks below Air Commodore will be shown here in detail. Abbreviations and explanations can be found at the help page.

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Yates, Edward John Married ...; ... children.	13.06.1923 - 11.2006 Sefton North district, Merseyside	Sgt. ? [1581499] P/O (prob) 13.03.1945 [196010] (WS) F/O 13.09.1945	13.03.1945     commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission] A grandchild indicates that he served with 70, 216 & 78 Squadrons RAF.
Yates, Kenneth Bernard Helen	? -	(A) P/O (prob) 31.12.1941 [114995]	31.12.1941     commissioned, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission]
Yeo-Thomas, Forest Frederick Edward "Tommy" Eldest son of John Yeo Thomas (1877?-), a coal merchant, and Daisy Ethel Burrows (1883-). Married 1st (c. 1921/25, Paris, France) Lillian Margaret Walker (1903?- 14.02.1977); one daughter. His 2nd common-law wife was Barbara Joan Dean (24.12.1915 - 09.1999).	17.06.1902 Holborn, St Marylebone district, London - 26.02.1964 Paris, France [Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey]	Sgt. ? [504896] P/O (prob) 28.11.1940, seniority 24.10.1940 [89215] (WS) F/O 28.11.1941, seniority 24.10.1941 (T) F/Lt. 01.01.1943 (WS) F/Lt. 27.08.1944 (reld 28.06.1946; retaining rank of W/Cdr.) (A) W/Cdr. ? (T) W/Cdr. ? GC 15.02.1946 * [investiture 26.03.46] MC 14.03.1944 in recognition of gallant and distinguished service MC 16.05.1944 in recognition of gallant and distinguished service LegH ? ? CdeG ? ? KZ ? ?	Education: Dieppe Naval College; Lycée Concordet, Paris. Manager for fashion house Molyneux in France, 1932-1939. 1939     enlisted, RAFVR (Sergeant-interpreter with the Advanced Air Striking Force) 28.11.1940     commissioned, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission] 10.1941 - 02.1942 intelligence officer, 308 Polish Squadron (Baginton) 02.1942 - 03.1944 served Special Operations Executive (SOE), responsible for planning in the RF French section which worked in close association with General de Gaulle's Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action (BCRA) 02.1943 - 03.1944 parachuted three times in France (under the codenames "Shelley" & "The white rabbit") 02/04.1943, 09/11.1943 & 02/03.1944 02.1944 - 04.1945 captured, imprisoned in Fresnes prison & finally transferred to concentration camp Buchenwald, from which he escaped in April 1945 Returned to Molyneux after the war but left in 1948 for reasons of health. Representative in France, Federation of British Industries, since 1950. Literature: Bruce Marshall, The White Rabbit (1952); Mark Seaman, Bravest of the brave : true story of Wing Commander Tommy Yeo-Thomas - SOE secret agent codename, the White Rabbit (1997)
* This officer was parachuted into France on the 25th February, 1943. He showed much courage and initiative during his mission, particularly when he enabled a French officer who was being followed by a Gestapo agent in Paris to reach safety and resume clandestine work in another area. He also took charge of a U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had been shot down and, speaking no French, was in danger of capture. This officer returned to England on the 15th April, 1943, in the aircraft which picked up Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas undertook a second mission on the 17th September, 1943. Soon after his arrival in France many patriots were arrested. Undeterred, he continued his enquiries and obtained information which enabled the desperate situation to be rectified. On six occasions he narrowly escaped arrest. He returned to England on the 15th November, 1943, bringing British intelligence archives which he had secured from a house watched by the Gestapo. This officer was again parachuted into France in February, 19144. Despite every security precaution he was betrayed to the Gestapo in Paris on the 21st March. While being taken by car to Headquarters he was badly beaten up. He then underwent 4 days continuous interrogation, interspersed with beatings and torture, including immersions, head downwards, in ice-cold water, with legs and arms chained. Interrogations later continued for 2 months and Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was offered his freedom in return for information concerning the Head of a Resistance Secretariat. Owing to his wrist being cut by chains, he contracted blood-poisoning and nearly lost his left arm. He made two daring but unsuccessful attempts to escape. He was then confined in solitude in Fresnes prison for 4 months, including 3 weeks in a darkened cell with very little food. Throughout these months of almost continuous torture, he steadfastly refused to disclose any information. On the 17th July, Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was sent with a party to Compiegne prison, from which he twice attempted to escape. He and 36 others were then transferred to Buchenwald. On the way, they stopped for 3 days at Saarbrucken, where they were beaten and kept in a tiny hut. They arrived at Buchenwald on the 16th August and 16 of them were executed and cremated on the 10th September. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas had already commenced to organise resistance within the camp and remained undaunted by the prospect of a similar fate. He accepted an opportunity of changing his identity with that of a dead French prisoner, on condition that other officers would also be enabled to do so. In this way, he was instrumental in saving the lives of two officers. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas was later transferred to a work kommando for Jews. In attempting to escape he was picked up by a German patrol and, claiming French nationality, was transferred to a camp near Marienburg for French prisoners of war. On the 16th April, 1945, he led a party of 20 in a most gallant attempt to escape in broad daylight. 10 were killed by fire from the guards. Those who reached cover split up into small groups. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas became separated from his companions after 3 days without food. He continued alone for a week and was recaptured when only 800 yards from the American lines. A few days later he escaped with a party of 10 French prisoners of war, whom he led through German patrols to the American lines. Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas thus turned his final mission into a success by his determined opposition to the enemy, his strenuous efforts to maintain the morale of his fellow-prisoners and his brilliant escape activities. He endured brutal treatment and torture without flinching and showed the most amazing fortitude and devotion to duty throughout his service abroad, during which he was under the constant threat of death.
Young, Frank Clifford   Son of ... Young, and ... Kaye ?	17.08.1914 ? Cardiff district, Glamorgan ? - 09.1981 ? Epping Forest district, Essex ?	Ldg.Acm. ? [1286598] (A) P/O (prob) 29.05.1941 [67692] (WS) F/O 29.05.1942 (WS) F/Lt. 29.05.1943 (A) Sq.Ldr. (1945) DFC 21.09.1945 ?	29.05.1941     commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) [emergency commission] (1945)     142 Squadron RAF School headmaster.
Young, Henry Melvin "Dinghy"   Son of Henry George Melvin Young and Fannie Rowan. Married (10.08.1942) Priscilla Rawson Young, of Kent, Connecticut, USA.	20.05.1915 St George Hanover Square district, London - 17.05.1943 (KIA) [age 27] [Bergen General Cemetery, The Netherlands, 2.D.4]	P/O 13.09.1938 [72478] F/O 13.03.1940 (A) F/Lt. ? (WS) F/Lt. 06.04.1941 (T) Sq.Ldr. 01.06.1942 DFC 09.05.1941 for flying 28 operations DFC 18.09.1942 for flying 51 operations	Education: Kent College, Conn., USA; Westminster School, London; Oxford University (M.A. (Oxon.)) [of 1938 boat race fame] 13.09.1938 commissioned, RAFVR (General Duties Branch) 25.08.1939 mobilized 25.08.1939 No. 1 Initial Training Wing RAF 07.10.1939 No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School RAF 06.04.1940 RAF Abingdon 10.06.1940 102 Squadron RAF (flying Whitley bombers) 07.02.1941 No. 10 Operational Training Unit 30.04.1941 No. 22 Operational Training Unit 04.09.1941 104 Squadron RAF (Middle East; flying Wellington bombers) 29.06.1942 HQ 205 Bomber Group RAF (Middle East) 15.10.1942 special duties (USA) 13.03.1943 57 Squadron RAF 10.04.1943 - 17.05.1943 A Flight Commander, 617 Squadron RAF [took off in his Lancaster III [ED887 AJ-A] at 21.47 hrs at Scampton for Operation Chastise, tasked to bomb the Möhne Dam; dropped its weapon as briefed; set course, as deputy leader, for the Eder Dam before heading for base; shot down by flak while clearing the Dutch coast and crashed 02.58 hrs off Castricum aan Zee]
Young, John Alfred	? -	(A) P/O (prob) 31.12.1941 [114997]	31.12.1941     commissioned, RAFVR (Technical Branch) [emergency commission]
Young, John Kenneth   Son of Leonard Warburton Young (1875-), and Annie Stokoe, of Capelulo, Caernarvonshire. Married (12.05.1933, New Zealand) Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Hughes (10.09.1904 - c. 1959), daughter of James Abdy Best Hughes (1857-1936), and Emma Laity Barton (1866-1952); one daughter.	(06?).1906 Bucklow district, Cheshire / Lancashire - 03.06.1943 (MPK) [age 37] [Runnymede Memorial, panel 119]	P/O (prob) 22.11.1940 [88799] (WS) F/O (prob) 01.08.1941 (WS) F/O 22.11.1941 (A) F/Lt. (1943) (A) Sq.Ldr. 1943? MBE 02.06.1943 HM's birthday 43	22.11.1940     commissioned, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission]       North West African Air Forces 03.06.1943     missing, presumed killed as passenger aboard Hudson FK386 of 117 Squadron RAF, that was flying at 17:37 hrs from Portreath to North Africa, but failed to reach Gibraltar; Lt. Heinz Olbrecht of 15./Kampfgeschwader 40 claimed to have shot down two Hudsons, possibly one them being FK386
Young, Norman Dudley   Son of Norman Dudley Young, and Evelyn Ernestine Young.	1916 ? - 31.07.1942 (KIA) [age 26] [Runnymede Memorial, panel 72]	P/O ? [116163]	? - 31.07.1942 121 (Eagle) Squadron RAF [while in his Spitfire Vb [AA732] on Circus mission 201 (bomber escort) shot down over Abbeville (France) by Jagdgeschwader 26]
Young, Robert Eric	18.12.1910 - 02.09.1987 Mid Warwickshire	F/O (prob) 16.12.1940 [60504] F/O 16.12.1941 (T) F/Lt. 01.03.1942 (WS) F/Lt. 14.02.1945 (T) Sq.Ldr. 01.07.1945 (Emgcy List) (reld 18.12.1955) MID 08.06.1944 ?	16.12.1940     commissioned, RAFVR (Administrative and Special Duties Branch) [emergency commission] 06.1941     transferred, RAFVR (Technical Branch) [dated 16.12.1940]

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