The RAF Association was sad to learn of the passing of RAF veteran Léon Rubin at the age of 97.
In 1940, 15-year-old Léon – a Swiss national – witnessed the Nazi occupation of his home country of Belgium and vowed to one day join the Royal Air Force and the Free Belgian Forces in England. He spent the next two years saving money and learning English from a textbook and gramophone recordings before leaving a note for his parents and escaping the country.
Léon endured two years of Nazi occupation in Belgium before escaping to join the Free Belgian Forces in England. (©IWM).
Léon journeyed through occupied France until he reached the Spanish border. “I was put I touch with a local people-smuggler whose job it was to take me over the border to Figueras in north-east Spain,” Léon remembered. “In fact, he took me no further than within sight of the town, gave me the name and address of a contact – both of which would later prove false – and then left me to fend for myself.”
Arriving in Figueras he was stopped by the Guardia Civil and asked to produce identification. “I had none to show but told them in English that my name was Fred Kirkup, and that I was a British citizen who had escaped imprisonment in France and that I wished to be handed over to the local British Consular Service.”
The name Léon had given to the Spanish police – Fred Kirkup – was his pre-arranged alias. During a conversation back in Belgium with Georgette Dieu, a family friend and Resistance member, Léon had learned that her friend Lily had married an Englishman named Fred Kirkup before the war. As an alias, Léon had felt that Kirkup sounded more genuine than a surname like Smith or Jones. But, despite his claim to be a British citizen, Léon swiftly found himself thrown into a Spanish jail.
Weeks later, thanks to the mediation of a British Consular Officer, he was set free. Although the British officer knew that Léon’s claims of British citizenship were false, he nonetheless corroborated Léon’s fictional story and the Spanish police were forced to release him.
The officer then took Léon to Barcelona, where he was provided with new clothes and given a false certificate of British nationality. The next stop was Madrid, then Gibraltar where he was able to join up with the Belgian forces heading by ship for England.
“The journey at sea was a dangerous one,” Léon recalled, “and on several occasions the convoy came under attack by German dive-bombers before we finally docked at Liverpool.”
Following interrogation at a reception centre, he was issued with documents and told to report to the Belgian Embassy.
“Being a Swiss citizen, I was then referred to the Swiss Embassy where I was informed that my father had been moving heaven and earth to find his missing son. I was told I would be sent back to Switzerland which, I bluntly told them, I would refuse. Finally my parents were informed of the situation and agreed to emancipate me.”
During the journey from Gibraltar to the UK Léon's convoy was attacked by German dive-bombers. (©IWM).
However, the real Fred Kirkup – a Leading Seaman in the Royal Navy – had been reported missing more than a year earlier. And, several months prior to Léon getting in touch, his nom de guerre had been cross-checked by the British authorities. During these checks, Lily had been contacted and asked if she knew anyone by the name of Fred Kirkup.
The mere mention of her husband’s name was enough to give Lily new hope that he was still alive. So when Léon finally got in touch, Lily was devastated to learn the truth: that the Fred Kirkup she had hoped was her husband was in fact an imposter. The resentment soon disappeared however, once she heard Léon’s story.
Following initial training Léon was sent to Canada to complete his pilot training. Before leaving, he received a telegram from Lily and her two sons: “Our thoughts are with you. Lily, Michael. Philip.”
Léon (fourth from left, centre row) after receiving his RAF wings in Canada. He finished first on his course. (Image courtesy of Marion Rubin).
After being demobbed from the RAF in 1946 Léon served as an auxiliary in the Belgian Air Force from 1949 to 1957. He ended his military career with 13 medals and the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel Aviateur.
Léon was a founder member and stalwart of the RAF Association’s Belgium Branch for more than 65 years. He was a committee member for 20 years, edited 48 issues of the branch’s quarterly newsletter and was awarded a European Area Presidential Certificate in 2013 for his outstanding support to the branch.
Always active, he took part in two parachute jumps – the first at the age of 73 and the second at 90. Léon remained a key member of Belgium Branch until his death, supporting official and fundraising events and providing a link between the older and younger generations of members.
Léon (third from left) with Belgian Air Force auxiliary pilots, post-war. (Image courtesy of Marion Rubin).
Léon received an Association European Area Presidential Certificate from Air Marshal Christopher Harper in 2013. (Image courtesy of Marion Rubin).
