Flying Officer, RAF
Born: August 20th 1909
Died: August 8th 1944
Age at Death: 34
John Bigland was born on 20 August 1909 to Thomas Tulk-Hart of Blackbarrow, Lancashire, and his wife Madeline (née Bigland). During the war he served as a flying officer in the RAF, in 69 Squadron.
During the 1944 Normandy campaign the squadron conducted night reconnaissance, using flares to locate enemy troop movements – because of the Allies’ air superiority it was safer for the Germans to move at night. Bigland was killed on active service during this period (not in 1945, as in the College Roll of Honour), leaving a wife, Miza, and is buried in Breel Churchyard in Normandy.