Roll of Honour 2023

P AGE 205

W ORLD W AR II

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

Name DESMOND WILLIAM BURT LANSDOWN (Fl Off)

Lef SES 1939

Roll Number 3241 Died 10:02:1945

Set / House C

Arrive SES 1937

Where RATNAP NEAR SINGAPORE Serving with 258 SQD FIGHTER CMD, R.A.F.V.R.

Age 22

Buried Singapore Memorial Cemetery Kranji Remembered Singapore Memorial Roll of Honour and The St. Edward’s School WW2 Memorial

Born Parkstone, Dorset 1923. Left the School after only a short time while still in the Vth (d) Form. ‘Though not physically strong when he first came to SES, he would never allow this to prevent him from whole-heartedly entering into all that he did, whether it was swimming, cricket or rowing, all of which he represented his House. His was a happy disposition and it won him many friends’ (Chronicle). For a short time before war broke out, he worked for Lloyds Bank in 1939. He enlisted in 1941 in the R.A.F.V.R. as a Cadet and rose to Sergeant Pilot by 1943. A year later he was posted to 258 Squadron Fighter Command, flying Spitfires, based near Singapore. He was killed in February 1945, during a planned ground attack over Singapore during the retaking of the city from the Japanese. Aircraft stalled on take off and crashed on the Ratnap strip.