Dudley Persse Joynt

Dudley Persse Joynt was an Irish-born RAF fighter pilot, who disappeared on 31 May 1940 during the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk.

A descendant of Dudley Persse, the Sandymount native was a skilled rugby player who continued his playing career after leaving Belvedere College, playing with Monkstown Senior and later captaining Shannon Buccaneers. Dudley was also an accomplished cricketer. He was on the 1926 Senior Cricket XI which got to the final, but lost to Masonic. After leaving Belvedere, he became a Superintendent of Shell Mex & BP Company Ltd.. He was later transferred to Yorkshire, where he remained. In 1936, he joined the Auxiliary Air Force (which later merged with the Royal Air Force). When war broke out, he became a full time fighter pilot with the RAF (AAF) 90322 (Ireland), 609 Sqdn.

In May 1940, both Denmark and Norway fell to the Nazis. On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. Neville Chamberlain resigned as British Prime Minister. Holland surrendered to the Germans on 14 May. On that same day Germany invaded France. By 22 May, Britain (under Prime Minister Winston Churchill) decided the battle was lost and to evacuate his troops from the European mainland via Dunkirk. The evacuation of 345,000 troops began on 26 May. Five days later, Joynt was on patrol duty in his Spitfire over Dunkirk. He did not return from his mission.
He was reported missing and presumed dead. The same day, more than 68,000 soldiers were evacuated, while 28 RAF planes and 38 German aircraft were lost. His obituary from the 1941 Belvederian states, in part: "On patrol duty over Dunkirk on the last day of May last year he was seen to dive in his Spitfire to attack a German bomber. He has not returned, nor has any news been received of him since then, so he must be presumed killed in action. To his sorrowing family we extend our deepest sympathy."

Dudley Persse Joynt was 30 years old at the time of his disappearance, and is commemorated at Panel 4 of the Runnymede Memorial.

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