Members of the RAF Association's Branch network journeyed to France to attend the funeral of fallen World War II pilot Squadron Leader George Morley Fidler.
Michael Jackson from the London & City Branch and Kingsley Hamilton from the Kenley & Caterham Branch saw Sqn Ldr Fidler laid to rest with full military honours in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission London Cemetery and Extension in France.
Kingsley paraded the Standard of the Kenley & Caterham Branch and Michael laid a wreath on behalf of the Association.
Sqn Ldr Fidler joined the RAF in 1934. When the Second World War broke out, he was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force to help resist the German threat. There he joined 607 (Co of Durham) Squadron, just as they were allocated new Hawker Hunter fighters.
Described as an 'exceptional' pilot, Sqn Ldr Fidler was Commanding Officer of 607 Squadron for only a few days before his Hurricane was shot down on patrol in the skies above Cambrai on 19 May 1940.
At first, Sqn Ldr Fidler was believed to have been recovered in the French village of Bachy, where he was buried. However, wreckage found in 2005 in Oisy-le-Verger, 35 km away from Bachy, bore the serial number P3535, suggesting it came from Sqn Ldr Fidler's Hurricane.
Further investigation revealed that authorities at the time of Sqn Ldr Fidler's death had failed to consider two RAF Sergeants who died on the same day, so they could not be certain that the body buried in Bachy was in fact him. The name on the headstone was replaced with 'Unknown Airman' and Sqn Ldr Fidler's name was added to the memorial to the missing.
In 2022, work on the Seine-Nord Canal at Oisy-le-Verger in France unearthed a Hurricane with the pilot still inside near to where Sqn Leader Fidler's aircraft was last seen. DNA testing was able to confirm that it was him.
Although no blood family members of Sqn Ldr Fidler were able to attend the funeral, Michael reflected afterwards: "The family of RAFA, serving RAF and many of those gathered at the wet graveside were his family, not just for the that day, but for perpetuity."
