HOGARTH Rycherde Henry Wilshere

Appears on the Royal Air Force casualties list for Worcestershire.

Rycherde Hogarth was the youngest son of the Rector of Severn Stoke. He had been born at Oxford in 1922 but like his brothers and sisters had spent his early years in South Africa. When the Hogarth family returned to England he completed his schooling at Dean Close School, Cheltenham and then went up to Christ Church, Oxford, where he was reading medicine when the war broke out. He enlisted in the RAF and was gazetted Pilot Officer in January 1942 and promoted to Flying Officer nine months later. Posted to No 41 Squadron at Westhampnett in Sussex as a Spitfire Pilot, he was shot down by a Messershmitt over France when his Flight was escorting Typhoon fighter-bombers raiding the Luftwaffe airfield at Abbeville. Originally posted as missing, his death was confirmed by the International Red Cross in November. His station adjutant wrote of him:- “He was a very good squadron officer, keen, enthusiastic, and a good leader. Although of a quiet disposition, he had a charm which made him much loved by the ground crews and pilots alike, and his loss is very much felt by us all.”

Source for additional information: Severn Stoke. The Parish in Wartime 1939 – 1945 by Bob Cross, 1999.

A letter from W.J.S. Davies Severn Stoke Rectory, dated 16th May 1950 can be found within war records held at Worcestershire Archives requesting that Flying Officer Rycherde Henry Wilshere Hogarth, RAF, be added to the county roll of honour.