Bio / Text:
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Charles Hutchin was my grandfather. He had a few photos of himself in his RAF uniform sitting in his plane in a sheepskin flying jacket. He shared anecdotes which he liked to tell us, some of them very sad and others humorous. He told me that flying over Germany with the guns pointed skywards, was terrifying.
As well as the Spitfire, he flew the Kittyhawk in Egypt. I believe he was also stationed in Afghanistan at one point.
After the war Charles Hutchin was part of a team running Algiers Airport (Maison Blanche) for the British. He also became a flying instructor at Castle Donnington Airport. He spent most of his remaining years as a Pressure Vessel Engineer, working for a man named Charles Leyton. During that time, my grandfather lived in Aldridge, Staffordshire, St Albans in Hertfordshire, Germiston and Cape Town, South Africa.
My grandfather was married to Marjorie nee Long and pre-deceased her.
Charles was an avid supporter of the arts; he loved ballet, music, languages and a good bottle of red wine. He wrote a few novels which did the round of publishers and which incorporated his fascination with the Middle East and Afghanistan.
