Background
Robinson, Basil was born on June 20, 1912 in London. Son of William Robinson and Rebecca Frances Mabel (nee Gilbanks) Robinson.
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Basil William Robinson
Edit ProfileEducation
Winton House, Winchester, Winchester College, Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Career
He is most notable for flying a Handley Page Halifax bomber over 500 miles back to England and safely landing it after the other six crew members had bailed out. He was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1933 and joined Number. 35 Squadron Royal Air Force in 1941 after completing a tour of duty as a pilot on Whitley bombers.
On 18 December 1941 he was involved in an air raid on German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.
In March 1942 he was appointed commander of 35 Squadron which became a pathfinder unit On the night of 18/19 November 1942 after a raid on Turin, Italy a target indicator flare left hanging in the 22 ft long bomb bay of Robinson"s aircraft burst into flames whilst he was flying over the Alps.
He ordered the crew to bail out and stayed at the controls whilst they did so to maintain level flight. However, by the time they had all jumped he realised that the flames had died down.
He therefore decided to attempt to fly the large aircraft back to England over hostile territory without a navigator, flight engineer, wireless operator or air gunners.
He was subsequently promoted to Group Captain and appointed the station commander at Royal Air Force Graveley. He died on the night of 23/24 August 1943 near Wensickendorf, Germany when his Halifax HR928 was shot down by a nightfighter during a raid on Berlin. He is buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 war cemetery.
Interests
Connections
Married 1st Ailsa Mary Stewart in 1945 (died in 1954). Married 2nd Oriel Hermione Steel in 1958, one son one daughter.
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Born
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Died
August 23, 1943 (aged 31) -
Nationality
United Kingdom