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George Powell-Shedden
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George Powell-Shedden
George Ffolliott Powell-Shedden, DSO, DFC (1 April 1916 – 31 October 1994) was a Royal Air Force pilot who flew during the Battle of Britain and later went on to operational commands. He was also an Olympic bobsledder who competed for Britain in the late 1940s.
Born George Ffolliott Powell on 1 April 1916 in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, he was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Richmond Ffolliott Powell DSO (1880–1956) and Alice Katherine Beatrix Shedden. Powell-Shedden was youngest of three brothers: Richmond Roscow Ffolliott Powell (born 1909); and Atherton George Ffolliott Powell (born 1912), who later became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He had one sister, Rosemary Beatrix Ffolliot Powell. He assumed the surname of Powell-Shedden by deed poll of 9 August 1938.
Powell-Shedden was educated at Wellington College, where he became a sergeant in the Officers' Training Corps. After leaving school he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, but then switched to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell where he was commissioned on 19 December 1936.
In 1937 he was posted to No. 47 Squadron RAF, flying Vickers Vincent aircraft based at Khartoum. In 1939 he was transferred to No. 33 Squadron RAF, a fighter squadron equipped with Gloster Gladiator biplanes for policing Palestine.
During the Battle of Britain Powell-Shedden served as blue flight commander in Group Captain Douglas Bader's No. 242 Squadron RAF. Though somewhat large for a Hawker Hurricane cockpit, and having a stutter, Powell-Shedden was recommended to Bader as "a very good type".
"Stutters! Stutters!", Bader exploded, "that's no damn good to me. What's going to happen over the radio in a fight?" Told that Powell-Shedden was a Cranwell man, though, Bader changed his mind. "Just the chap", he agreed, "send him along".[citation needed]
Powell-Shedden joined the squadron June 1940. Powell-Shedden shot down at least four enemy aircraft.[citation needed] He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 19 June 1940.
On 15 September 1940, now known as Battle of Britain Day, it was reported that Powell-Shedden was missing. It transpired that he had shot down a Dornier bomber and was chasing another when a Messerschmitt Bf 109 came out of cloud behind him and set his Hurricane on fire. While baling out he hit the tail and dislocated a shoulder.
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George Powell-Shedden
George Ffolliott Powell-Shedden, DSO, DFC (1 April 1916 – 31 October 1994) was a Royal Air Force pilot who flew during the Battle of Britain and later went on to operational commands. He was also an Olympic bobsledder who competed for Britain in the late 1940s.
Born George Ffolliott Powell on 1 April 1916 in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, he was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Richmond Ffolliott Powell DSO (1880–1956) and Alice Katherine Beatrix Shedden. Powell-Shedden was youngest of three brothers: Richmond Roscow Ffolliott Powell (born 1909); and Atherton George Ffolliott Powell (born 1912), who later became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He had one sister, Rosemary Beatrix Ffolliot Powell. He assumed the surname of Powell-Shedden by deed poll of 9 August 1938.
Powell-Shedden was educated at Wellington College, where he became a sergeant in the Officers' Training Corps. After leaving school he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, but then switched to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell where he was commissioned on 19 December 1936.
In 1937 he was posted to No. 47 Squadron RAF, flying Vickers Vincent aircraft based at Khartoum. In 1939 he was transferred to No. 33 Squadron RAF, a fighter squadron equipped with Gloster Gladiator biplanes for policing Palestine.
During the Battle of Britain Powell-Shedden served as blue flight commander in Group Captain Douglas Bader's No. 242 Squadron RAF. Though somewhat large for a Hawker Hurricane cockpit, and having a stutter, Powell-Shedden was recommended to Bader as "a very good type".
"Stutters! Stutters!", Bader exploded, "that's no damn good to me. What's going to happen over the radio in a fight?" Told that Powell-Shedden was a Cranwell man, though, Bader changed his mind. "Just the chap", he agreed, "send him along".[citation needed]
Powell-Shedden joined the squadron June 1940. Powell-Shedden shot down at least four enemy aircraft.[citation needed] He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 19 June 1940.
On 15 September 1940, now known as Battle of Britain Day, it was reported that Powell-Shedden was missing. It transpired that he had shot down a Dornier bomber and was chasing another when a Messerschmitt Bf 109 came out of cloud behind him and set his Hurricane on fire. While baling out he hit the tail and dislocated a shoulder.
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