Harry Priestley
Flight Engineer 12/43-6/44

Harry was born on 6th May 1923 in Selby, the eldest of the five children of William and Ethel Maude Priestley. There were three older siblings from his father’s first marriage and the eight children, five brothers and three sisters, were brought up together in a small house in the Dye Works in Selby, with strict discipline, and the principle instilled in them that honesty and hard work were essential.

At 14 they were expected to leave home and make their way in the world and so at 14 Harry, having never left Selby, was placed on a train to London, where an old army colleague of his father’s had offered him a job working in the house of a wealthy film producer in the Home Counties, for whom he was now butler.

Harry’s first test, when met at the London station, was to be asked how much his fare had cost. Answering truthfully ensured him the job and he was soon busy working as a boot boy. However, his diligence and decency singled him out and when a friend of the butler’s told him that such a lad was required to work in the household of the then Duke and Duchess of York, Harry was interviewed and soon found himself working for them at 145 Piccadilly, their London home, and the house made famous by the film, The King’s Speech.

Here he took on many tasks, not least of which was to take the two young Princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret their supper. Frequently the Duchess, later the Queen, would open the nursery door for him, with a ‘Good evening master Priestley, how are you today?’

Harry moved with the family to Buckingham Palace as part of the Royal Household and it was here that he used to assist the Princesses with tidying their Welsh Cottage, Y Bwthyn Bach, or The Little House, in the grounds and also help them hold funerals for their pets. Something he famously informed HRH Prince Charles of in 2012, when he told him, ‘I used to dig graves with your mother Sir!’: Judy hastily explaining that Her Majesty had not been moonlighting but organising suitable farewells for her departed pets.

Another job was to go ahead of the King and Queen to the Royal Lodge or Windsor Castle and, when signalled to, unfurl the Royal Standard as soon as George VI entered the grounds. On one occasion, having clambered up the innumerable steps at Windsor Castle, he set about eating an apple from his pocket and reading a book, only to be roused by the bellowing of the Sergeant at Arms in the courtyard way below as he had not done his duty.

While in their employ Harry travelled with the Royal Family to Balmoral and many other places and was the first person to swim in the newly built pool at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park … another fact he startled Prince Charles with!!

In between all of this Harry furthered his education by doing a series of correspondence courses in mathematics and engineering. Studying late at night in his room … and high in the tower at Windsor.

Elsewhere war clouds were gathering. Britain declared war on the 3rd September 1939 and within a few months Her Majesty the Queen’s personal detective, Chief Inspector Cameron, took the young Harry to one side and told him, ‘If you want to fight for your country laddie you’d best resign from the Royal Household or the King & Queen will keep you with them for the duration.’

Eager to defend his sovereign and his country Harry did, and applied, at barely 17, to join all three services. The Royal Air Force replied first and so it was that Harry broke with family tradition and did not join his father and three of his brothers in the Army. After training the young Harry found himself as a Flight Engineer on Lancaster bombers and flew 45 missions with 207 Squadron, taking part in many of the famous bombing raids over Germany.

Harry on 207 Sqn at Spilsby
Aged 20

The odds of surviving in Bomber Command were lower than 8% and the Lancaster was one of the most dangerous places to be in the entire war – the life expectancy of a new recruit was just two weeks.  Harry and his comrades drew a small cross on the back of their Nissen Hut door to represent each of their Squadron’s Lancaster crew who did not return. One cross for 7 men … and the door was soon covered.    

Despite the horrendous rate of attrition in Bomber Command, and his great good fortune in surviving against all odds, Harry then volunteered for Pathfinder Force on 582 Squadron and flew yet more missions.

In the spring of 1945 he also flew on Operation Manna, flying, during a brief and nervous amnesty, very, very low over the Channel and Holland through batteries of German guns trained on them, dropping food and their own meagre aircrew emergency rations, from their Lancaster’s bomb bays to the starving Dutch people, bringing them life when they were looking death in the face.  Something vividly and gratefully remembered to this day by the people of Holland.

While on 207 Squadron, stationed at RAF Spilsby, he met a stunningly beautiful young WAAF on a railway station, both returning from a 48 hour pass. Upon offering her a date he was sharply informed that she did, ‘not date aircrew’ because they ‘tended not to live too long’. Harry explained that the ‘date’ was actually a real one, sent by his aunt in Australia ... and the rest is history. Harry and Peggy married in Norfolk on 16th December 1944 and remained happily married for over 60 years until Peggy’s death in November 2005.

Harry celebrated his birthday on the 6th May 1945 and the whole of Britain celebrated VE Day, the end of WWII in Europe, on the 8th May. All those long years of war … and he was only just 22.

Post-war he closed down several RAF stations in his new role as an Equipment Officer. And, as CO of RAF Downham Market, even getting German prisoners of war under his command to build a cot and play pen for his newly born daughter, Judith.

However, he was soon demobbed and in 1947 he, Peggy and baby Judith returned to Selby, and then moved to Haxby Road in York where he worked for a short time as an engineer at Rowntrees.

After 18 months there they relocated again, moving to King’s Lynn, near Peggy’s Norfolk home. Not for long. Very soon Harry joined the RAF again and retrained as an Air Traffic Control Officer, among other duties, which was to set the pattern of the family’s life for many years as they moved from posting to posting, RAF station to RAF station, from one end of the country to the other, plus two tours in Germany. Throughout they were renowned for their wonderful parties and boundless hospitality...and Harry’s fondness for a large dram or ... hree.

One of Harrys’ huge delights in life was becoming a grandparent. Aged just 44, taking early morning Met. Briefing at RAF Coningsby as usual, he proudly announced to the assembled aircrew, ‘Good morning gentlemen, I am now a grandfather’. Said aircrew duly celebrated with him in the Officer’s Mess that night!

At 48 he retired from the RAF and in 1971, by now the proud grandfather of Stanford, Christopher and Elizabeth, took a pub near Newark, the Hop Pole Inn. Although he and Peggy made a huge success of the canal-side inn, Peggy hated the life and before long they were on the move again, back to Harry’s roots in Selby, where he became a senior engineer at Drax Power Station, remaining there until his retirement in 1988.

During this time three more much loved grandchildren, Gemma, Daniel and Lucy, came into his life and he was never prouder than when with all six of them, showing them things in his workshop, tinkering and mending things … their much loved ‘Grandpappy’.

Throughout these years in Selby he and Peggy took numerous cruises, travelling the world, making new friends and enjoying their later years. Both of them had been members of 207 Squadron so they also took great pride and pleasure in entertaining old Squadron members as well as attending Squadron reunions, memorial services and get-togethers with his wartime crew.

They loved having Judith, David and their family living so much closer than ever before and in time great-grandchildren Lauryn, Georgia, Louis and baby Cordelia, also blessed their lives and no one was prouder than Harry of this new generation. He always had a special affinity with little ones and loved his role sitting on the stairs each Christmas Eve, guarding the sleeping children while Father Christmas visited.  

After Peggy’s death he lived in Harrogate, finally moving in with Judith and the family in early 2010. Here he had his own self-contained home where he tended his beloved birds and pottered each day on walks to the Valley Gardens, making lots of new friends as he did so and causing consternation by asking young mums, doing keep-fit there, if they did not have homes and husbands to look after!!

An RAF man to the end he could not have been prouder than when the family accompanied him, as a VIP guest, to the opening of the magnificent Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park in June 2012. He loved every minute of it … and his long chat with HRH Prince Charles about the Royal Family, the Royal Lodge ... and grave digging!  

Only last September, on Battle of Britain Sunday, he proudly sang every verse of the 207 Squadron Lancaster song to the guests at the RAF Benevolent Fund fundraising luncheon given by Judy & David in their garden.

Harry was many things.
A loyal officer and a true patriot.  
A loving son, brother, uncle and good friend to many.
A very much adored husband and father and wonderful father in law.
A doting Grandpappy and totally besotted Great Grandfather.
Moral, Intelligent and truly brave he was, quite simply, a hero.
More than this, he was OUR hero, a legend… and so very loved.                                   

TTFN Grandpappy Harry

This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

May Christ our resurrection and our hope
console you and gently wipe every tear from your eyes.
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always
Amen

Go in the peace of Christ
Thanks be to God.

Give sorrow words.
The grief that does not speak
Whispers the o’erfraught heart,
And bids it break

Harry & Peggy’s Wedding Day - 16th December 1944

That, no doubt, is the work that each of us should spend a lifetime doing:
Rubbing the gold piece put in our hand at birth,
so that it shines ten thousand times more brightly when death comes to steal it.
(From The Eighth Day by Christian Bobin (French writer born 1951)

The family warmly invite everyone to join them at
Serendipity, 112 Duchy Road, Harrogate
for refreshments and a celebration of Harry’s life

This is Peggy's Obituary that appeared in the Winter 2005/Spring 2006
207 Squadron Royal Air Force Association Newsletter.

Peggy Gwendoline Priestley, née Meek
Driver 11/42-1/45
7th Dec 1920 - 27th Nov 2005

Peggy Priestley died in her sleep during the night of 26/27 November. Her husband Harry (Flight Engineer 12/43-6/44) had been unwell and Peggy was staying with their daughter Judy whilst he was in hospital for tests.

Our condolences go to Harry and his family. The Priestleys have been stalwarts of the Association and their many friends will have been sad at this unexpected news.

Peggy is the WAAF shown on the history page of the WAAF Association website.


Peggy loved flowers and Harry, out of hospital for the day, asked there be flowers at her funeral, which was at Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate, on Thursday 8th December, the day after what would have been her 85th birthday. Peggy loved butterflies and each member of the family wore a large butterfly badge which they placed in their wreath on Peggy's coffin as they said goodbye at the end of the service. Sqn Ldr Paul Stockley, OC207R at nearby Linton attended on behalf of the Squadron and there were four members of the Association present.

Peggy’s daughter, Friend member Judy Darcy Thompson writes: Peggy was born into a close knit farming community in a small village, Tilney cum Islington, near King’s Lynn in Norfolk. She and her brother Alfred had a wonderful childhood playing and cycling in the countryside and fields.

After leaving school Peggy worked locally for a while before doing what so many of her generation did, leaving the security of her village and joining the armed forces to fight in WWII. She became a WAAF MT driver, training in Blackpool, where she learnt to drive various HGVs. For a while she drove in London before being posted onto 207 Squadron in Lincolnshire, where she drove ‘cookies,’ or bomb loads, out to the Lancasters before their raids and also drove aircrew to their planes. A duty she has recalled sadly in recent years as ‘driving young men to their deaths.’

Peggy was a stunningly beautiful young woman with no shortage of admirers. On a railway platform, when returning from a 48-hour pass, she met a young officer whose advances she rebuffed in no uncertain terms, stating that she did not date aircrew.

However, the dashing young Yorkshireman, one Harry Priestley, persisted and eventually, with the help of his weekly ‘aircrew fresh orange’ and a box of dates from his aunt in Australia, persuaded Peggy to marry him.

On 16th December 1944, they married in Clenchwarton parish church. There followed a 2-day honeymoon in a borrowed house in King’s Lynn. Where, famously, Harry, endeavouring to carry his new bride over the snowy threshold into the warmth of a fire lit house, was told to ‘shut that b***** door!” by a passing air raid warden.

This was the start of a very long and happy marriage lasting almost 61 years. Peggy and Harry travelled the world together in the post war RAF and on the many cruises they took later in life, making innumerable friends wherever they went. Wherever they were posted, at home or abroad, Peggy made a home for Harry and their daughter. A wonderful cook, Peggy loved to entertain and their parties were legendary ... as were her apple pies.

Peggy loved to read and had a passion for Greek history so one of her greatest thrills was seeing the wonders of ancient Greece on their trips. She has passed on her love of books and words to all of her family. She was still doing the Sunday Times crossword until the end!

Judy, their only daughter, gave them six grandchildren whom Peggy loved dearly. It is a great consolation to know that she spent her last few weeks in Judy’s home surrounded by them and the great granddaughter she cherished so much, not to mention her son in law, David, whom Peggy adored.


She loved the hat and felt very glam wearing it!!
Peggy left her family a legacy of love, which will ensure that she is always a part of their lives in the future, just as she had already been such a huge part of their lives.

Although she became a Yorkshirewoman by marriage Pegs never lost her Norfolk roots and Christmas won’t be Christmas without her exclaiming that the turkey is, “Bootiful, just bootiful.” A wonderful lady, she’ll be missed so very deeply by all her family and all who loved her.

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[Pilot] Pilot Officer Doug Smith DFC RNZAF
[Flight Engineer] Pilot Officer Harry Priestley

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[Editor's photo] Under a baking hot sun those of us in the Salute Area watched the event on a big screen.
 Waiting for people to take their seats some of the D'Arcy Thompson family are seen here, joined by Harry, a VIP guest.
(Judy - 3rd in row - and David - 6th - were Friend Members of the 207 Squadron RAF Association)