John Hugh Kitson
Memorial: Tytherington - St James's Church
Regiment: Royal Air Force
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Squadron Leader 34160
Parents: Revd Canon Arthur John Kitson B.A and Mary Lilian Kitson
Marital status: Married
Home address: The Vicarage, Hill, Gloucestershire
Pre-war occupation: RAF from 1934
Date of birth: 11/03/1912
Date of death: 21/06/1940
Buried/Commemorated at: Buried and commemorated St Peter’s Churchyard Christchurch (Upper Riccarton) New Zealand. He is also commemorated on Auckland Museum online cenotaph and St James Tytherington War Memorial
Age: 28
Further information:
John arrived in New Zealand in March of 1940, on loan to the Royal New Zealand Air force for supervising training, whilst his wife and children remained in England. He was promoted from Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader the day before his accident.
He was killed when an Airspeed Oxford bomber he was flying crashed shortly after take-off from Taieri aerodrome, Dunedin and burst into flames. The two other crew members escaped with injuries.
He served in the Royal Air Force, 1 Service Flying Training School, Wigram New Zealand.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://henry-tilson.squarespace.com/s/OAC-newsletter-2015.pdf
London Gazette June 7th 1940