David Lord (RAF officer)
David Samuel Anthony Lord, VC, DFC (18 October 1913 – 19 September 1944) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. A transport pilot in the Royal Air Force, Lord received the award posthumously for his actions during the Battle of Arnhem while flying resupply missions in support of British paratroops.
Early life[edit]
David Lord was born on 18 October 1913 in Cork, Ireland,[1] one of three sons of Samuel (a warrant officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers)[2] and Mary Lord (née Miller).[3] One of Lord's brothers died in infancy.[4]
After the First World War the family were posted to British India and Lord attended Lucknow Convent School.[2] On his father's retirement from the Army the family moved to Wrexham and then David was a pupil at St Mary's College, Aberystwyth, and then the University of Wales. Later, he attended the English College, Valladolid, Spain, to study for the priesthood. Deciding that it was not the career for him, he returned to Wrexham, before moving to London in the mid-1930s to work as a freelance writer.[2]
Four other men were awarded the Victoria Cross at Arnhem: