Roll of Honour 2023

P AGE 199

W ORLD W AR II

S T . E DWARD ’ S S CHOOL , O XFORD R OLL OF H ONOUR

Name CHARLES EDMUND HUGH JEFFERSON (Lt)

Roll Number 3054 Died 26:08:1944

Set / House F

Arrive SES 1935

Lef SES 1940

Where RHONE VALLEY Serving with 809 SQD, FLEET AIR ARM, R.N.V.R.

Age 23

Buried St. Remy-de-Provence Old Communal Cemetery

Remembered The St. Edward’s School WW2 Memorial

Born Lincoln in 1922, the son of clergyman, a Royal Naval Padre who also perished in the war two months after his son. He was a School Prefect, a librarian, Sergeant in the OTC and in the Lower Classical VIth. ‘Rather shy and retiring. He rose to be a House Prefect. He proved himself be one of the many who through a real humility and devotion to the task in hand achieve greatness’ (Chronicle). He joined the R.N.V.R. in 1940 straight from School and by 1942 was a Sub Lieutenant (A) in the Fleet Air Arm. A married man. By 1944 he was operating off the HMS ‘Stalker’, a CVE escort carrier, when he was killed in his Seafire, leading an attack up the Rhone Valley, targeting enemy transport in the battle area. He was seen pulling away when hit by ground fire, then losing a wing and crashing into the ground. His body was recovered by the Maquis, who buried him in the cemetery at St. Remy.