J E R Young

John Young was a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps when he died on 17th July 1917 near the end of World War 1. On becoming a pilot, John had been posted to 37 Home Defence Squadron and was guarding the northern approaches of the Thames Estuary and living in Leigh-on-Sea.

Following a warning of an enemy formation of 22 Gotha bombers approaching the coast of Essex he took off in a Sopwith plane which is a little two-seater from Rochford, with C.C. Taylor as his gunner.

Despite being in a technically inferior aeroplane on sighting the enemy and realising how dangerous it would be if the planes got through, Young immediately flew into the middle of the enemy formation to try and stop them attacking.

Lt Young's plane was shot at by the German pilots, but rather than crashing, John put his Sopwith on a collision course with one of the enemy; both he and Taylor were killed, and the plane fell into the sea.

#sleepanxiety #Help