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Godfrey Ernest Rickard served with the Royal Air Force during the Second War; trained as a Flight Engineer at R.A.F. Walney Island, May 1942; posted for operational flying as a Flight Engineer to 7 Squadron (Stirlings), Oakington, June 1942;
He flew in 24 operational sorties with the squadron including: St. Nazaire (2); Bremen (3); Wilhemshaven (2); Vegesack; Duisburg (3); Hamburg; Saarbrucken; Dusseldorf (2); Osnabruck; Mainz; Flensburg; Kassel; Nuremberg; Frankfurt; Essen; Genoa and Milan;
Having crash landed on his first operational sortie, 22.6.1942, Rickard's luck held until 9/10.11.1942; on the latter date he took part in a raid on Hamburg, with Flight Lieutenant P. Heywood, D.F.C. as his pilot, they 'T/o Oakington. Crashed in the Flottbek district of Hamburg, 7km WNW of the city centre' (Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, refers); the crew of seven were all killed, and are all buried in Hamburg Cemetery, Ohlsdorf.
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