Squadron Leader Pilot, Royal Air Force
Born: February 11th 1911
Died: November 6th 1940
Age at Death: 29
House Prefect 1927
School Prefect 1928
2nd 15 1928-1929
John Oldfield was born on 11 February 1911 in Southsea, Hampshire, to Emma and Humphrey Oldfield, a major in the Royal Marine Artillery.
Oldfield was a school prefect and member of the 2nd XV at the College, and Company Sergeant Major. He won the Prefect Prize in his final year.
We do not know what he did before the war; however, his command of an entire squadron little more than a year into it suggests he already had extensive experience of flying before war began, as either a reservist or a professional within the peacetime RAF. When war came he joined 61 Squadron, flying the Hampden bomber, the first Bomber Command squadron to drop bombs on German soil. It was based at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire, where much of the filming of the classic 1954 war film “The Dam Busters” was shot.
Oldfield died on 6 November 1940 on a bombing mission over Germany, and is buried at Kiel War Cemetery.