Intruder was a blind landing device that would help the pilot bring the
aircraft down in complete darkness. Such a device was already under trial at
the time, Paterson’s entry of 19 July 1943 reading;
Espley’s blind landing experiments (a GEC development) seem to make him
sanguine – and we propose to make demonstration equipment if it promises
well. The easing of pressure on the Compact Range Equipment may give
him a chance to get on with it …
But for all the Intruders who came to grief in the same way it was just too late.
News of John Augustin’s death came to Robert and Emily a few days after
their son’s burial. On Friday 10 September 1943, The Times, carried the
following notice from the family;
Le Rossignol. – In Sept., 1943, killed in action, Middle
East, Flying Officer John Augustin Le Rossignol, R.A.F.,
beloved and only surviving son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Le
Rossignol of 7, St John’s Road, Harrow, Middlesex.
‘ON ACTIVE SERVICE’
In the fullness of time, John Augustin’s grave was marked by a headstone
erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to commemorate
his life ‘in perpetuity’. It reads;
FLYING OFFICER
J. A. LE ROSSIGNOL
PILOT
ROYAL AIR FORCE
5 TH SEPTEMBER 1943 AGE 31
Robert and Emily later added a personal inscription, just two words more
than that for Peter Walter (Plate 17.10);
After the war, the Le Rossignol’s Parish church at St John’s Greenhill
erected a memorial to those from the Parish who fell in WWII and John
Augustin’s ‘sacrifice’ is also recorded there.
For Robert and Emily, the loss of a second son must have left them
devastated. But one hardly needs a war to create such tragedies. The lessons of
our industrial past teach us this. On a single day in our mining communities
for example, many a mother lost her husband, sons and her brothers. These
poor families were far less capable than the Le Rossignols, but the depth of
grief for the one is the same as for the many, and their notice in The Times
announced that it was to the ‘many’ that Robert and Emily now belonged.
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
437
aircraft down in complete darkness. Such a device was already under trial at
the time, Paterson’s entry of 19 July 1943 reading;
Espley’s blind landing experiments (a GEC development) seem to make him
sanguine – and we propose to make demonstration equipment if it promises
well. The easing of pressure on the Compact Range Equipment may give
him a chance to get on with it …
But for all the Intruders who came to grief in the same way it was just too late.
News of John Augustin’s death came to Robert and Emily a few days after
their son’s burial. On Friday 10 September 1943, The Times, carried the
following notice from the family;
Le Rossignol. – In Sept., 1943, killed in action, Middle
East, Flying Officer John Augustin Le Rossignol, R.A.F.,
beloved and only surviving son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Le
Rossignol of 7, St John’s Road, Harrow, Middlesex.
‘ON ACTIVE SERVICE’
In the fullness of time, John Augustin’s grave was marked by a headstone
erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to commemorate
his life ‘in perpetuity’. It reads;
FLYING OFFICER
J. A. LE ROSSIGNOL
PILOT
ROYAL AIR FORCE
5 TH SEPTEMBER 1943 AGE 31
Robert and Emily later added a personal inscription, just two words more
than that for Peter Walter (Plate 17.10);
After the war, the Le Rossignol’s Parish church at St John’s Greenhill
erected a memorial to those from the Parish who fell in WWII and John
Augustin’s ‘sacrifice’ is also recorded there.
For Robert and Emily, the loss of a second son must have left them
devastated. But one hardly needs a war to create such tragedies. The lessons of
our industrial past teach us this. On a single day in our mining communities
for example, many a mother lost her husband, sons and her brothers. These
poor families were far less capable than the Le Rossignols, but the depth of
grief for the one is the same as for the many, and their notice in The Times
announced that it was to the ‘many’ that Robert and Emily now belonged.
17 The GEC Laboratories 1939–1949
437