View source for Geoffrey Warnes

{{short description|Royal Air Force officer (1914–1944)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Geoffrey Warnes
|image= Geoffrey Warnes.png 
|image_size= 
|alt= 
|caption= 
|nickname= 
|birth_date= {{birth date|1914|10|22|df=yes}}<ref>''Yorkshire Evening Post'', Announcements, (undated)</ref>
|birth_place= [[Leeds]], [[Yorkshire]], England
|death_date= {{death date and age|1944|02|22|1914|10|22|df=yes}}<ref name="ORB1">''Operations Record Book, 263 Squadron'', [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives UK]] (ref AIR27/1548)</ref>
|death_place= [[English Channel]], off [[Guernsey]], [[Channel Islands]]
|placeofburial= 
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[Royal Air Force]]
|serviceyears= 1940–1944
|rank= [[Squadron Leader]]
|servicenumber= 78429 RAFVR
|unit= 
|commands= [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]]
|battles= [[Second World War]]
* [[European air campaign (World War II)|European air campaign]] {{KIA}}
|awards= [[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
|relations= 
|laterwork= 
}}
[[Squadron Leader]] '''Geoffrey Berrington Warnes''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|DSO|DFC}} (22 October 1914 – 22 February 1944) was a British pilot who flew with [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]] during the [[Second World War]]. He was described by Group Captain [[Johnnie Johnson (RAF officer)|Johnnie Johnson]] as a "gay, cheerful character" who was a "leader of men".<ref name="Johnson">Johnson, J.E. (1956). ''Wing Leader '', p. 197. London: Chatto and Windus.</ref>

==Early life==
Warnes was born on 22 October 1914, the son of Clifford and Dorothy Warnes.<ref>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx  Commonwealth War Graves Commission]</ref> As a child he lived in [[Headingley]], [[Leeds]]; he was educated at [[Cockburn High School]], leaving in 1931 "to work in an office".<ref>[http://forum.keypublishing.com/forum.php Cockburn Admission Registers and Yorkshire Archive Service, quoted on]</ref> He was a member of the [[Civil Air Guard]] where he learnt to fly with the [[Leeds Bradford International Airport#Early history|Yorkshire Aeroplane Club]] at [[Leeds Bradford International Airport|Yeadon Aerodrome]], his instructor was [[James Harry Lacey|"Ginger" Lacey]] (later squadron leader).<ref name="Flight">''[[Flight International|Flight]]'' (28 January 1943).</ref><ref name="People">''[[The Sunday People|The People]]'', "Ace Pilot beat the Doctors", (undated)</ref> He played rugby with Headingley Rugby Club (now [[Leeds Tykes]]) from 1936 until the outbreak of war.<ref>''[[The Yorkshire Post]]'', "A special case", (undated)</ref>

==War service==
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Warnes volunteered as a pilot, but was rejected because he wore glasses and his eyesight was too bad to be corrected by lenses in flying goggles.<ref name="People" /> He persisted and was eventually rewarded when he was accepted for ground duties. He was commissioned as an acting pilot officer (on probation) in April 1940.<ref>''London Gazette'', 22 April 1940</ref> He was posted to France, but on returning after the [[Battle of France|Fall of France]], he was posted to a [[barrage balloon]] squadron.<ref name="People" /> He continued in his efforts to fly and was transferred to the General Duties Branch in November 1940,<ref>''London Gazette'', 27 June 1941</ref> for training as a flying instructor. He accumulated 400 hours teaching trainee RAF pilots on [[de Havilland Tiger Moth|Tiger Moth]]s,<ref name="Livingston" /> whilst still trying to get transferred to a combat unit. He was wearing spectacles under his flying goggles, but was challenged by his medical officer about the safety of this. With the threat of being grounded, he consulted a specialist and, using £50 of his own money, invested in contact lenses. He was sent to Group Captain [[Philip Clermont Livingston|Philip Livingston]], a consultant ophthalmologist in the RAF Medical Services, who gave permission for Warnes to fly on active missions.<ref name="People" /><ref name="Livingston">Livingston, Air Marshal Sir Philip. ''Fringe of the Clouds'' (1962). London, Johnson.</ref> He was posted to [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]] at [[RAF Charmy Down|Charmy Down]] in [[Somerset]].<ref name="ORB1" />

===Westland Whirlwinds===
No. 263 Squadron flew [[Westland Whirlwind (fighter)|Whirlwind]]s, a twin-engined [[heavy fighter]]; the new [[No. 137 Squadron RAF]] had just been formed at that airfield, it was the only other squadron to be equipped with Whirlwinds and some of 263's experienced pilots were transferred to it.<ref name="ORB1" /> Geoffrey Warnes's first recorded mission on 19 September 1941 was a [[Glossary of RAF code names#mandolin|Mandolin]] operation to attack [[Morlaix]] aerodrome in [[Brittany]]. Four aircraft flew from [[RAF Predannack|Predannack]] in [[Cornwall]], but they failed to locate their target and "inconclusive attacks were made on a pill box".<ref name="ORB1" /> [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]]s from [[No. 313 Squadron RAF|313 Squadron]] provided an escort "but showed no very marked inclination to stick close to the Whirlwinds".<ref name="ORB1" /> On 9 November Warnes was promoted to [[flight lieutenant]] and appointed [[Flight commander|Flight Commander]] of "B" Flight.<ref name="ORB1" /> The winter of 1941–1942 was quiet, with much fog and snow. In February, the squadron was moved to [[RAF Fairwood Common|Fairwood Common]] near [[Swansea]] in [[Wales]], and April saw them moved west to [[RAF Angle|Angle]] in [[Pembrokeshire]]; that summer would be spent mainly on the routine tasks of convoy protection and reconnaissance patrolling from these parts of Wales.<ref name="ORB1" />

As well as its fighter capability, the Whirlwind could operate as a [[fighter-bomber]]. In August 1942, No. 263 Squadron moved to [[RAF Colerne|Colerne]] in [[Wiltshire]], bomb-racks were fitted to eight aircraft and nearly all members of "A" and "B" flights granted a week's leave while this was carried out. After brief bombing practice at the beginning of September, the squadron moved to [[RAF Warmwell|Warmwell]] in [[Dorset]], from which their first bombing operation on 9 September was successful. Four aircraft, including Warnes', flew armed with 250&nbsp;lb bombs. They encountered "four ships of the large armed trawler type" off [[Cape La Hague]] and sank two.<ref name="ORB1" /><ref name="People" /> Much of the next two months were spent on armed reconnaissance, [[Glossary of RAF code names#rhubarb|Rhubarb]] and [[Glossary of RAF code names#roadstead|Roadstead]] operations.<ref name="ORB1" />

On 9 December 1942, Warnes became Commanding Officer (CO) of No. 263 Squadron and was promoted [[squadron leader]], his predecessor having been shot down off [[Jersey]] two days before and later presumed killed.<ref name="ORB1" /><ref>''Sunday Express'', 17 January 1943</ref> 1943 brought considerably more action than the previous year, chiefly the bombing of shipping and railway lines in northern France, along with more routine work. Geoffrey Warnes was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] on 17 February 1943 and the [[Distinguished Service Order]] on 13 June that year. Two days after which he completed his tour of duty and was posted as second-in-command of operations at [[No. 10 Group RAF|No 10 Group]] headquarters.<ref name="ORB2">''Operations Record Book, 263 Squadron'', 15 June 1943</ref> The following is a text extract from the squadron records:

{{quote|During that time the work of the Squadron … was largely the personal creation of S/Ldr G B Warnes. Briefly he was a strict disciplinarian who combined a fierce and forthright manner with personal kindness; a Commander who never left the least doubt about what he wanted and who consistently obtained these qualities because he himself consistently displayed them: he himself did even more than he required of others. As a tactician S/Ldr Warnes may have some place in the history of the War, as the creator of medium-level dive bombing by fighter-bombers (…). His notes on shipping attacks … have been adopted as a Fighter Command Tactical Memorandum.<ref name="ORB2" />}}

===Hawker Typhoons===
No. 263 Squadron flew its last operation with Whirlwinds from [[RAF Warmwell]] on 29 November 1943.  On 2 December, the first six [[Hawker Typhoon]]s, its new aircraft, arrived at the airfield. On 3 December, [[Westland Aircraft|Westlands]], who built the Whirlwind, gave a party for the squadron in nearby [[Yeovil]] and the next day 12 aircraft flew in formation over the town.<ref name="ORB3">''Operations Record Book, 263 Squadron (1943/44)'', [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives UK]] (ref AIR27/1548)</ref>

On 5 December 1943, Warnes returned to active duty with his squadron. The men had moved by road to [[RAF Ibsley|Ibsley]], their new planes being flown over by another squadron. His first task as CO was develop the squadron's tactics with their new aircraft. There were no more operational flights until February.<ref name="ORB3" /><ref name="fsquad">Rawlings, John D R; ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft''; (Macdonald, London, 1969), pp. 374–378.)</ref> From now on, they would be flying this single-engined [[strike fighter]], which could carry [[RP-3|ground-attack rockets]] or a small bomb load. Typhoons had been flown by squadrons as early as September 1941, but its engine was still giving concern at the end of 1943 – it had problems which would not be cured until the end of the war was near.<ref name="typhandtemp">Reed, A and Beamont, R; ''Typhoon and Tempest at War''; (Allan, London; 1974.)</ref> After flying a reliable twin-engined aircraft, pilots felt much less secure, aside from the usual operational dangers, they would be flying to northern France over 60–120 miles of open sea with only one, occasionally unreliable, engine.

On 1 February 1944, the squadron came back into operational readiness at [[RAF Beaulieu]]. Operations were mainly conducted over the [[Cotentin Peninsula|Cherbourg peninsular]] and included attacks on [[V-weapons|V-weapon]] launch sights. On 12 February, Warnes shot down a [[Dornier Do 217|Dornier 217]] over [[Brittany]] and the next day he chased and destroyed a [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Messerschmitt 109F]] near [[Chartres]].<ref name="ORB3" /> 14 February saw many of the pilots undertaking dinghy drill in Bournemouth swimming baths, followed by "an evening of various pleasures".<ref name="ORB3" />

22 February "proved disastrous to the squadron".<ref name="ORB3" /> After refuelling at [[RAF Harrowbeer|Harrowbeer]], nine aircraft carried out shipping reconnaissance west of the [[Channel Islands]]. No enemy action took place, but Warnes was forced to ditch his aircraft (Typhoon Ib, MN249) and he was seen swimming towards what looked like an uninflated dinghy. Twenty-one-year-old Flying Officer Bob Tuff of the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] said that he was going to bail out to help him, Flight Lieutenant Gerald Racine told him not to, but his order was ignored or not heard. Three men lost their lives on that day, as a third pilot, Flying Officer Robert Hunter, was not heard of again.<ref name="ORB3" /><ref>''Sunday Express'', 7 October 1956</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===External links===
* [http://rollofhonour.airport.gg/the-aircraft/ Guernsey WWII Aircrew Memorial]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warnes, Geoffrey}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force squadron leaders]]
[[Category:British World War II pilots]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:People educated at Cockburn School, Leeds]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Leeds]]