Date of birth:

November 3rd, 1913 (Wantsworth/South-West-London, Great Britain)

Date of death:

1999

Nationality:

British

Service number 32191.
Horace Darley was commissioned in the RAF in 1932 and flew in Fairey Gordons and in Vickers Vincents, the latter in Aden (Yemen).
Darley returned to England in 1936 and was employed as an instructor for several years. When war broke out, he served as Flight Operations Controller and as such he followed 63 Wing, a part of the British Expeditionary Force to France. Following his return from France he was appointed commander of 609 Squadron, tasked with the defence of London during the Battle of Britain. May 1941 he was transferred to Singapore where he was to organize the defence of Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Hong Kong and to get the cooperation under way between the Americans in the Philippines and the Dutch on Java. Following the invasion by the Japanese, he organized the retreat of the RAF from the region. Subsequently he became commander of 151 Wing in Risalpur, India and later on commander of 221 Wing in Calcutta.
In the summer of 1944, Darley returned home and was made commander of 62 OTU, he then became commander of RAF Cranfeld and later still commander of the RAF College at Bracknell.
More commands followed until June 15th, 1959 when he left the RAF and started a new career as as intelligence officer in Whitehall. He retired in November 1974.

Promotions:
August 12th , 1932: Pilot Officer (probation)
August 12th, 1933: Pilot Officer
March 12th, 1935: Flying Officer
March 12th , 1937: Flight Lieutenant
August 12th, 1938: permanently commissioned as Flight Lieutenant
?: Squadron Leader
June 1st, 1941: Wing Commander (temporary)
December 10th, 1943: Wing Commander (war sub)
July 1st , 1951: Group Captain

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Squadron Leader

Awarded on:

October 22nd, 1940

Citation:
"This officer has led his squadron in a brilliant manner during its recent successful operations against superior numbers of enemy formations. He has displayed determination and coolness and, by his skill in action, he has contributed largely to the great successes obtained by his squadron."

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Acting Wing Commander

Awarded on:

January 1st, 1941

• - SHORES, CH. & WILLIAMS, C., Aces High, Grub Street, London, 1994.
  - The London Gazette Issue 34976 published on the 22 October 1940
  - Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 35029 published on the 31 December 1940
  - The Battle of Britain London Monument