Geoffrey Arthur Turner

Geoffrey Arthur Turner
1914-1940
Pilot Sergeant RAF - 206 Squadron

"The universe is so vast and so ageless, that the life of one man can only be justified by the measure of his sacrifice."

(Pilot Officer V.A. Rosewarne 1916-1940)

(Letter to his mother)

Geoff was born on 8th November, 1914 at Simla, India, the only child of Evelyn Arthur and Ethel Laura Turner. Evelyn was an engineer on the railway and the family lived a privileged lifestyle. At the age of 7 Geoff was sent to boarding school in England. He attended St. Joseph's College in Dumfries until the age of 16 when he joined the RAF.

Geoff rose to the rank of Pilot Sergeant, gaining many hours flying experience as a member of the 206 Squadron Coastal Command. He designed their emblem with the motto 'Nothing without effort.'.

In 1935 Geoff married Edna and they had two daughters, Felicitas and Veronica.

On 18th May, 1940, Geoff's plane, along with the other eight in the squadron, left England on a bombing raid to Hamburg. Edna was expecting their third child. That night all nine planes were lost. Geoff's resting place is known only to God.

Edna gave birth to a son, Anthony, three months later. She remarried and had a long and happy marriage to another Airman. Veronica, known as Vicky, is my mother-in-law, and is affectionately known as 'The Dragon'. Joy (Felicitas) and Tony have been reunited with their father in Heaven. Edna now lives in a quiet seaside village with her partner Tom having lost her second husband, Ray, in 1991.

"Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed, by so many, to so few."

(Winston Churchill)

(20 August, 1940)