Page 30 • The HERALD • 5th June 2025 v THE HERALD - YOUR COMMUNITY MAGAZINE v FLAT ROOFING SPECIALISTS All Roof Repairs Tel: 023 8184 5632 Mobile: 07880 508415 Email: steve@braithwaiteroo ng.co.uk THE FLAT ROOF SPECIALIST A.M.H. Handyman Services Internal & External Painting All aspects of DIY Work • Flat Pack Assembly Power Washing: Driveways, Patios, Paths & Decking Gutter, Fascia Boards & Window Cleaning (Bungalows only) Call or email Andy for a free estimate Tel: 07961 443623 handyandyharding@gmail.com Local and Reliable DECORATING Interior and Exterior Established 1985 07867 528307 mark.blake.decorating@gmail.com “WHAT’S WRONG? DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?” - THE LEGACY OF REG BAKER, D-DAY HERO by Marc Heighway Marc hosts monthly local history talks, visit: nfhwa. org/events for details. With the recent VE Day commemorations last month, I wanted to share the story of a man who did more than most to secure Allied victory. He made the ultimate sacri ce and should not be forgotten. It was eighty-one years ago that a remarkable pilot took o from a New Forest air eld but never came home. Wing Commander Ernest Reginald “Reg” Baker DSO, DFC & Bar, was one of the RAF’s most audacious and charismatic leaders. On 16th June 1944, just ten days a er D-Day, he was killed in action over Normandy while ying from RAF Needs Oar Point, a temporary air eld near Beaulieu built for the invasion of Europe. His loss was felt deeply by the men who ew under him, many of whom considered him both invincible and irreplaceable. Reg was born in Doncaster in 1914. e youngest of ve children, he initially trained as a teacher, but at twenty-three his passion for ying led him to enlist in the RAF. When war broke out in 1939, he was ying long-range patrols in Sunderland ying boats with Coastal Command, escorting Allied shipping and hunting enemy U-boats. Over the next two years, he On 16th June, Reg led another operation over France. e sky was thick with ak. Over the radio, his voice came through, calm and clear, directing his squadrons to turn away from the danger zone. His nal words were heard by his fellow pilots: “Hello carefree and Vampire aircraft, Port 180. Lochinvar. Out.” Moments later, a Typhoon was seen spiralling downward through the clouds. It was Reg. One pilot later said that Reg had likely taken a direct hit and, even in his last moments, was thinking only of his men as he warned them away from the bursts of ak. He crashed near the village of St. Mauvieu, where Canadian troops buried him in the middle of a warzone. Today, he lies in the Canadian War Cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer – he is believed to be the only nonCanadian buried there. In the 1990’s, his children Helen and Steve visited the crash site and recovered fragments of his Typhoon. e local French community, in gratitude for the role Reg had played in their liberation, renamed a road in his honour as Rue du Colonel Baker. Over the last few years, I have spoken to both Helen and Steve and met with members of Reg’s family. ey have kindly given me parts of the aircra that they retrieved from Normandy in the 1990’s. I felt it was important that elements of the Typhoon returned home, so I recently loaned some of those parts to the Friends of the New Forest Air elds Museum in Bransgore - they helped to install a tting tribute to Reg. Whilst Reg himself never managed to return to the New Forest, at least parts of his aircra , albeit small, have come home… 81 years later. Testament to Reg’s character is a memory from one of the men under his command, David Ince, recalled a groan that had gone up when Reg announced the attack altitude for the day. His response, tinged with gallows humour, became the stu of legend: “What’s wrong! Do you want to live forever?” Reg Baker at Needs Oar Point established a reputation as a fearless and highly skilled pilot. By January 1941, he had completed over one thousand hours of operational ying and was credited with four submarine kills. His actions earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, presented to him later that year at Buckingham Palace. But Reg was not one to rest on his laurels. He soon transferred to Fighter Command and began ying the powerful Hawker Typhoon - fast, heavily armed, and ideal for low-level attacks on German transport, radar stations, and troop movements. Reg ourished in the aggressive world of ground-attack operations. As a squadron leader and later wing commander, he led from the front, diving through ak and gun re with a calm con dence that inspired everyone around him. By 1944, he was in command of four Typhoon squadrons based at RAF Needs Oar Point, an air eld rapidly constructed on farmland to the south of Buckler’s Hard to support the Normandy invasion. From here, Reg led missions across the Channel to so en up German defences before D-Day. He and his men destroyed bridges, marshalling yards, radar installations and V1 ying bomb launch sites. On the evening of 5th June 1944, Reg gathered his pilots in a barn at Park Farm near orns Beach to brief them on what lay ahead. One pilot, Alex Shannon, recalled the moment with awe: “Wing Commander Baker got us all together and said: ‘The possibility is that I won’t be with you here tomorrow, and many of you may not be here tomorrow, but it’s going to be a great day for all of us’.” He was right. 6th June was a turning point in the war, and the Typhoons under Reg’s command played a key role in supporting Allied forces as they fought to secure a foothold in Normandy. In the days that followed, his squadrons continued to strike deep into enemy territory, taking out German reinforcements, gun positions and convoys trying to push the Allies back into the sea. Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club takes place on the second Saturday of every month at Hythe & District Social Club, Pylewell Road, Hythe. Go along on Saturday 14th June to enjoy the social interaction and banter with fellow veterans which will help improve your mental health and is good for PTSD. For more details text Graham on 07526 507053 or nd them on Facebook (Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club). Veterans Breakfast Club
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