FARFAN, Fernand William

Stats:

rank: F/L
status: survived
airforce: RAF    (no: 157691 )
born: 1921-08-29 Montserrat Trinidad

added by: Paul Sandford

Served with 123, 601, 602, 41 squadrons. Awarded Belgian Croix de Guerre. Shot down over Crete and escaped and evaded to make it back to Egypt, defended Malta during the siege, and supported the D-Day Landings and all the way to the invasion of Germany and the end of the war.

41 Squadron
Name FARFAN, Fernand William 'Fanny'
Number 157691
Rank Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant
Nationality Trinidad
Born Montserrat, Trinidad, British West Indies, 29 August 1921
Arrived 24 March 1945
Departed 25 September 1945
Decorations Belgian Knight in the Order of Leopold (1947), Belgian Croix de Guerre (1947)
Notes Farfan's full surname was 'Farfan de los Godos', but he appears to have dropped 'de los Godos' whilst with the RAF and 41 Sqn records have him listed as 'Farfan' only; returned home, Oct 1945; relinquished commission April 1949, retaining Flt Lt

Update:

Fernand William “Fanny” Farfan was born in Trinidad and joined the RAF in 1941. Training initially at Piarco in Trinidad he gained his wings in 1942 and travelled to England.

Joining 601 Squadron in March he was one of the pilots on Operation Calendar transferring to Malta. On the crowded flight deck of USS Wasp on 20 April, as the Spitfires prepared to take off, one of the deck hands stepped in to his propellor and was killed. Farfan was allowed only to stop the engine to check for propellor damage before being sent on his way. His C/O was quoted as saying that Farfan was never the same again.

There are limited records of operations on Malta. On 10 May he claimed a Cant Z1007bis probably destroyed, Spitfire serial unknown.

In June it was decided that Egypt needed Spitfires more than Malta and so some 601 Squadron pilots and Spitfires were flown to Aboukir. Some pilots flew directly in Spitfires (including BR363) and some pilots were flown as spare bods in other aircraft. There is only a partial record of who arrived when, other than the CO.

After the move from Malta 601 started operations on 1 July. He flew with 601 until August, claiming one enemy A/C damaged on 14 July. He crashed BR363 on 21-08-1942 in a landing accident described in the ORB as an error of judgement.

On 1 October he joined 80 Squadron flying Hurricanes before moving to 123 Squadron. 123 spent the winter based in Persia, initially without any planes but slowly being supplied with Hurricanes. His first entry in the ORB is another accident at Abadan on 7 December. When 123 moved to Egypt in May 1943 they were given a small number of Spitfires for high level interceptions, including BR363 which Fanny was to fly again.

On 23 July 1943 he was shot down in a Hurricane over Crete during Operation Thesis. He made his way back to Egypt, presumably via the resistance and SOE. The ORB entry for 17 September says “F/S Farfan pays us a visit and were we glad to see him!! He managed to escape capture when he came down in Crete. He would not give us any other details.” Presumably he was not allowed to and he did not re-join 123.

Commissioned in 1943 he ended the year as a flying instructor in the UK before joining 602 Squadron and then 41 Squadron flying Spitfires over NW Europe and taking part in 41’s last operation of the war.

Returning to Trinidad he became the first pilot of the re-born British West Indies Airways and was joined by his brother Esmond who had served in the RAF as a Lancaster and Mosquito pilot earning a DFC.

Some online resources suggest that Fernand was with 145 Squadron but this is not confirmed.