Henri Gonay

Henri Alphonse Clement Gonay
DFC
Born 21 July 1913
Theux, Belgium
Died 14 June 1944 (aged 29)[1]
Jersey
Allegiance  Belgium
Service/branch  Belgian Air Component
 Royal Air Force
Years of service 1931 – 1940 (Belgium)
1940 – 1944 (UK)
Rank Squadron leader
Service number 81635 RAFVR
Commands held 263 Squadron
Battles/wars Second World War
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
Memorials Brussels town cemetery Belgian airmen's field of honour,
Allied War Cemetery, Jersey

Squadron Leader Henri A. C. "Moustique" Gonay DFC, CdeG(Belgium), CdeG(France) (21 July 1913 – 14 June 1944) was a Belgian airman who was killed in action whilst flying with the Royal Air Force during World War II.[2]

Gonay was born in Theux, Belgium. He joined the Belgian Army as a student pilot at the age of 18 in 1931. After the invasions of Belgium and France in 1940 he flew to England, where he enlisted in the RAF. After instructing pilots he requested to fly with an operational unit, he flew with No. 123 Squadron RAF until being given command of No. 263 Squadron RAF on 25 February 1944. Flying Hawker Typhoons, missions were flown against French coastal targets. Shortly after D-Day Gonay was wounded while attacking shipping, he was killed when his aircraft hit the ground in Jersey, where he was originally buried in the Allied War Cemetery, Howard Davis Park, Saint Saviour.[2] After the war, he was reburied at the Belgian Airmen's Field of Honour in Brussels Cemetery.

References

  1. ↑ CWGC
  2. 1 2 "Henri Gonay - Syndicat d'initiative de Theux - Franchimont". Sitheux.be. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
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