Date of birth:

June 5th, 1922 (Belper/Derbyshire, Great Britain)

Date of death:

June 10th, 2010

Service number:

63841

Nationality:

British

Alexander Heyworth volunteered for the RAF and was admitted on June 5th, 1940 for Aircrew Training.
After pilot training, he was posted to Bomber Command where he saw two tours of Operations with No 12 Squadron flying Wellingtons and Lancasters from Binbrook and Wickenby.
In June of 1944 Heyworth was seconded out to Rolls-Royce who was seeking to "develop a new type of power unit": Frank Whittle's jet engine. Heyworth left the RAF in 1946 at the conclusion of hostilities and continued his work with Rolls-Royce.
He was appointed Rolls-Royce Chief Test Pilot in 1955. In 1962 he ceased test flying and undertook various management jobs with Rolls-Royce, retiring in 1981 as Executive-Management Development. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1962 and in the same year was awarded the Thulin Medal by the Swedish Aeronautical Society.

Promotions:
April 20th, 1941: Pilot Officer (probation)
April 20th, 1942: Flying Officer
April 20th, 1943: Flight Lieutenant (war sub)

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Pilot Officer

Unit:

No. 12 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Awarded on:

January 30th, 1942

Citation:
"In the daylight attack on Brest in July, 1941 P / O Heyworth was engaged by enemy aircraft after bombing the target. Disregarding his personal safety, he coolly directed defensive fire from the astro dome, and the enemy fighter was probably destroyed."

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Acting Flight Lieutenant

Unit:

No. 12 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Awarded on:

June 2nd, 1943

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Acting Squadron Leader

Unit:

No. 12 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Awarded on:

October 15th, 1943

• - Fourth Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 35439 published on the 27 January 1942
  - Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 36033 published on the 28 May 1943
  - Third Supplement to The London Gazette Issue 36211 published on the 12 October 1943
  - The Telegraph - Obituaries
  - BBC2 - WW 2 People's War