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Harold Kinder Griffith F/M [Griffith-7638] c Married: 1914-Jun-6 Helena Winefride Morley Fletcher F/M [Fletcher-9795] c | |||||
| Michael Harold Griffith [Griffith-7642] [CFT #7167] Born: 1922 Died: 1942-Nov-7 |
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| b Roydon, Asheldon Road, Wellswood, Torquay, Devon Devon d Near Bielby, Yorkshire in an air accident Like his older brother Anthony, Michael was a passionate lover of classical music. He too was schooled at Beaudesert Park in Gloucestershire and Wellington College in Berkshire where he became a Prefect of the Choir and mainstay of every musical activity at the school. Devoted to every form of music, he founded the College Gramophone Society, to which his collection of records was presented. It was whilst at school that he started to compose and subsequently some of his music was performed at Wellington. He should have gone on to a celebrated musical career but war broke out and Michael joined the RAF and found himself a Pilot-Sergeant (No. 1171174) in the Volunteer Reserve serving on a training station in Canada. He was then posted to a night fighter squadron in the north of England. On the 7th November 1942 the port engine of his Beaufighter X7898 was seen to be emitting sparks probably caused by a faulty exhaust manifold. As it was catching fire it was decided to shut the engine down. Whist Michael was attempting a landing on only one engine at Pocklington airfield in Yorkshire, the aircraft stalled and crashed beside the canal near Bielby. Michael died, aged twenty, but his navigator Sgt. Gerald Wheatland was thrown clear. Although he survived the air crash, Gerald died of his injuries the following year on 8th April 1943 aged twenty-one. Michael was buried in Barmby-on-the-Moor (St Catherine) Churchyard, Polkington, Yorkshire on 11th November 1942. Vanessa Griffith July 2014 |
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