Service Details
Name:
 HELCKE
Given Name:
 DENIS ARNOLD
Initials:
 D A
Service No:
 745320
Trade:
 Pilot
Rank:
 Sergeant
Other Casualties of this Rank
Regiment:
 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Other Casualties from this Regiment
Unit:
 504 Sqdn.
Other Casualties from this Unit
Date of Death:
 1940-09-17
Other Casualties on this Date
Age:
 29
Cause of Death:
 Died in air crash, in Hurricane V7529, when he baled out after losing control following dummy attacks during a practice flight over Faversham. He may have struck the aircraft and he fell dead near Selling. He crashed at Shepherds Hill, Selling.
Additional
Information:
Son of Walter Arnold Helcke and Marjory Helcke, of Herne Bay. "One of the few" Battle of Britian pilot. Born in Herne Bay, Kent. His parents took him to South Africa as a child and he was educated at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg. He returned to England in 1935 and entered the Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering. Helcke graduated with a diploma and passed Air Ministry examinations. He obtained his 'A' license and had done a considerable amount of flying before joining the RAFVR in 1938. Called to full-time service on 1st September 1939, Helcke was with 504 Squadron at Castletown in early July 1940. Flying from Hendon on 7th September he claimed a He111 destroyed. On war memorial for King Edward VII School, Johannesburg
Commemoration
Country:
 United Kingdom
Other Casualties commemorated in United Kingdom
Locality:
 Kent
Other Casualties commemorated in Kent
Cemetery:
 HERNE BAY CEMETERY
Other Casualties commemorated in this Cemetery
Grave Reference:
 Sec. DDR. Grave 16

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