Squadron Leader Denys Bellerby

Denys was born on Feb. 13, 1916 in Surrey, UK, and was educated at Edgeborough Preparatory School, Greshams School, and Sydney Sussex College at Cambridge University.  He graduated as an architect in June 1937. During his studies he travelled several times to the Middle East to study architecture in the area: Istanbul in 1935, Iran and Iraq in 1936, and Palestine and Trans-Jordan in 1937 after graduation.  

In August 1939 he moved to the United States, to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend Harvard University to study modern architecture for a year. The outbreak of the war upset those plans and he booked passage on the first ship back to the UK, enlisting in the Royal Air Force in October. He was accepted for training as an observer early in 1940. He was promoted to Sergeant during training which he completed that December. He was awarded commission as a Pilot Officer and was assigned to 99 Squadron, which was part of No 3 Group RAF, Bomber Command, flying Wellington bombers. They were stationed in East Anglia and bombed targets in Germany and Norway, mainly at night. 

On January 4, 1941, his crew were instructed to take a Wellington (not their usual machine) for a trial run. When about 30 miles from their base in Newmarket the defects of the aircraft became apparent. After two aborted attempts to land, the Wellington disintegrated and crashed. Both pilots were killed, but Denys and the rest of the crew survived. However, he was badly injured and spent six months at Torquay Hospital recovering from a fractured left arm, fractured right leg, and very severe wounds to his right arm. 

The injuries to his arm prevented him from resuming his observer duties, so he applied and was accepted to train as an air photo interpreter. His keen observational skills that had served him so well as a navigator now made him a useful member of the team at RAF Medmenham. This unit was involved in the planning stages of practically every operation during the war, and in every aspect of intelligence. 

Denys’ pre-war travels in the Middle East gave him specific knowledge of that area, particularly because he had made maps during his 1937 trip. This resulted in a transfer in December 1941 to the Middle East Photographic Intelligence Centre to continue his work in air photo interpretation in that theatre of the war. His unit first worked near the front lines in North Africa and helped during the Battles of El Alamein in 1942. After that they were stationed in Aden. Now a Squadron Leader, he was “responsible for about a dozen officers and a few hundred men”.

Once peace was declared, Denys decided to remain in the RAF, and was given the rank of Flight Lieutenant in accordance with wartime rules that airmen dropped one rank when staying on permanent staff. He was mentioned in despatches and so was awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 with oak leaf, and the 1939-1945 Star. 

He continued to work as a Political Intelligence Officer at the British Headquarters in Aden, and at the Middle East Centre of Arab Studies in Jerusalem. After two years liaising with the small desert communities, he was transferred back to Britain to work in the RAF Volunteer Reserve at their Staff College. 

The injuries to his arm were so severe he was unable to pursue his chosen career as an architect. Undeterred he became an antique dealer, and opened Dormy House Antiques in Marlborough, where he lived with his wife, Ann, and their daughter Gale. They also owned a very old thatched cottage on the south coast where they spent summers and vacations.