Stuart James Cox Dr
Military5BFTS Association
Stuart Cox was born on April 1, 1923 and lived in Chipstead, Surrey. Soon after leaving school he saw an RAF advertisement for their first University Short Course entry. The RAF was
expanding rapidly and there was a shortage of suitable entrants for commissioned rank, so
successful applicants would be sent to a university for two terms and then enter the RAF as
aircrew for the duration of the war. A place at university and a grant after the war was
promised. Stuart applied and was successful and, although he did not realise it at the time, it
was a turning point in his life – had he not done this, he would never have gone to university
after the war and qualified in medicine.
Stuart worked as a clerk in the City of London whilst waiting for further instructions from the Air Ministry. He was in London throughout the Battle of Brittain and contributed to the war effort by becoming a member of the Home Guard. Eventually, he was told to report to Queen’s
University of Belfast - and had to look in his school atlas to find out where Belfast was! He
travelled across the Irish Sea from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland and on
arrival, thought the grass in Ireland was very green! Stuart and his 24 fellow ‘would-be RAF
aircrew’ became members of the University Air Squadron. In fact, they were the only members because they took up all the facilities for their initial training in flying, navigation, Morse code and signalling, meteorology, air law, drill and so on.
Stuart had rooms in Queen’s Chambers, opposite the main gate to the university building. It
was very comfortable indeed; each student had a single room with a bathroom to every three
rooms. Meals were taken over the road in the refectory and good meals they were. He was
in Belfast when America entered the war. Stuart says, “Late one night in December 1941 I
heard a strange shuffling noise in the road outside. I looked out of the window to see endless
marching men; the shuffling sound was made by their rubber soled boots. I realised that they
were Americans who had just come into the war (Pearl Harbour having been bombed by the
Japanese on 7 December 1941). They were the first Americans to arrive in the UK."
In April 1942, Stuart went home having enjoyed university life. After a week or two he was
instructed to report to RAF Aircrew Reception Centre at St John’s Wood, London on 2 May
1942. From there, on May 23, he went to Brighton until June 10 then to No 6, Elementary
Flying School, Sywell, Northampton. On July 7, he went to the Aircrew Dispersal Centre at
Heaton Park, Manchester and then finally on August 25, he was at Greenock bound for North
America. He eventually arrived in Clewiston as a member of Course 11. On this same course
were Hugo Trotter, Pete Varley, Peter (Puff) Train and George Watt.
After Clewiston, Stuart was posted to several airfields in the UK, one being Barrow in Furness
where he met and married Eithne Forman. Stuart was also sent as instructor to the Central
Gunnery School, escorted Anthony Eden to Berlin and was in the June 1946 flypast over
London. He was offered an instructors job at Cranwell but as this did not involve much piloting
he resigned and went to Queen’s University, Belfast to study medicine (one of his lecturers
was Errol Flynn’ father, Theodore). Qualifying in 1953, he became a highly respected GP in Gillingham, Kent until retiring in the early 1980s.
Stuart became a local councillor and later Chairman of Kent County Council. He was a JP, and Chairman of Kent Police, Fire Service and Health Authority at various times before fully retiring. His interests were sailing and golf and he was Commodore of the Medway Yacht Club. One of his greatest achievements was to rescue a local hospice from closure by making it part of his duty to local healthcare. Stuart’s happiest memories were from his flying years and supported many flying charities, in particular the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Type Category: Air base
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Chipstead Surrey | 1 April 1923 | |
Died |
16 October 2016 |