Records relating to the war service of Patrick West (1919-2011).
West was born on 14 October 1919 in Oxford, the son of Lewis and Catherine West. He worked as a sheet metal checker prior to joining the air force in March 1940, where he became a Flight Sergeant. His Lancaster III was shot down on 17 June 1944 at Volkel, Netherlands, killing five of his fellow crewmembers. Having sustained burns to his hands, he was hospitalised and later incarcerated at Stalag Luft 7, Bankau as a Prisoner of War. In 1948, he was discharged from the RAF and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He served as an Air Signaller before being discharged in July 1953. In later life he lived in the West Country, and died in Taunton in 2011.
These records include his RAF service records, prisoner of war record cards and copy documents relating to his air crash.
Deposited as accession 6085 in 2012 and catalogued by Katherine Kinrade in August 2024.