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| PERSONALIA |
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| Name: |
Glaser, Ernest Derek |
| Date of birth: | April 20th, 1921
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| Date of death: |
November 2001
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| Nationality: |
British |
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BIOGRAPHY:
Service number 82178.
Ernest Derek Glaser, born 20th April 1921, was accepted for flight training in April 1939, following in his fathers footsteps, who had been a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the first world war. He joined No.65 Squadron at Hornchurch on 15th July 1940 as the Battle of Britain got underway. He became No.2 to his boyhood hero Jeffrey Quill. He was mistakenly shot down by a Royal Navy destroyer over the English Channel near Plymouth. After the Battle of Britain, Glaser joined No.53 OTU before subsequently joining No.243 Squadron. By 1943, he had been posted to Darwin in Australia, commanding No.549 Squadron. then No. 548 Squadron until the end of the war. After two years he returned home, was granted a permanent commission and posted to Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. There he was flight commander of No 64, a half-strength Hornet fighter squadron.
In 1949 he was selected to qualify as a test pilot.
In 1950, Glaser was employed as an RAF experimental test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, until 1953, when he joined Vickers Armstrong at Hurn, Bournemouth. Becoming chief production test pilot, Glaser was involved with the Varsity. But his chief contribution was his exhaustive production testing of the Valiant, the first of the RAF's four-jet bombers, which preceded the Vulcan and Victor in Britain's V-bomber nuclear force. Glaser was also involved with the BAC 1-11s, one of Britain's best selling airliners.
Glaser retired in 1983 from British Aerospace - as Vickers, BAC and other merged aircraft manufacturers had become - and worked as an aviation consultant, while deriving much pleasure from sailing.
Ernest Glaser died aged 80 in November 2001.
Promotions:
July 20th, 1940: Pilot Officer (commission, probation)
July 13th, 1941: Flying Officer
July 13th, 1942: Flight Lieutenant
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DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS (DFC)
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Rank:
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Acting Flight Lieutenant
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Unit:
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No. 234 Squadron, Royal Air Force
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Awarded on:
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August 25th, 1942
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Action:
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Citation:
"This officer has participated in 51 sorties. His excellent leadership, keenness and determination have set a worthy example."
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