Writing to Arthur Aaron’s family after his death, Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris declared: “In my opinion, never even in the annals of the RAF, has the VC been awarded for skill, determination and courage in the face of the enemy of the highest order than that displayed by your son.”
Arthur Louis Aaron was born in Leeds, Yorkshire on March 5, 1922 to a British father and a Swiss mother. It was undoubtedly his mother’s influence that led him to a lifelong interest in mountains and mountaineering but his love of flying stemmed from a flight with the legendary Alan Cobham Flying Circus when it visited Penrith in the 1930s.
At the end of his schooling ‘Art’ Aaron enrolled at Leeds College of Architecture in 1939 and immediately joined the Leeds University Air Squadron. In 1941 he enlisted in the RAF and was sent to the USA where he completed his advanced flying training with No 1 (British) FTS at Terrell, Texas before graduating as a Sergeant pilot in June 1942.
Upon his return to Britain he was assigned to 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit to learn how to fly the giant Short Stirling bomber and on April 17, 1943 he was assigned to 218 Sqn at RAF Downham Market, Norfolk.
Over the next three months Aaron and his regular c…
