Francis Charles Joseph Butler

Francis Charles Joseph Butler (24 March 1915 - 19 June 1940, North Sea) was an English Aviator
The only son of Captain Francis Mourilyan Butler and his Josephine (neé Lawrence) of Carswell Manor, Faringdon, Oxfordshire. He was educated at Chaterhouse between 1928 and 1931.
In August 1935 he acquired De Havilland Moth (Number 363) from Hon Brian Lewis. The following year he sold this aircraft to Richard Seaman through the Straight Corporation. He subsequently acquired a B.A. Swallow Mk II and a Hornet Moth.
In March 1937 he took part in the Oases Meeting organised by the Royal Aero Club of Egypt, but was disqualified for failing to acknowledge one of the check-points correctly. He competed in the King's Cup Race of that year.. He also entered the King's Cup Race the following year.
At the beginning of World War II he served as Pilot Officer 76576 in the RAFVR serving in IX Squadron. He and five other crew members took off at 21:50 on 18 June 1940 on board a Wellington bomber serial number N2879 (WS-P) from Honington. Their mission was a bombing raid on Leverkusen. The following day the flight was reported missing. It is presumed that the plane crashed into the North Sea, though the cause of the aircraft's failure to return was never established. Butler was only 25 years old but was the oldest airman on board.
He is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede, panel 7.

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