Person    | Male  Born 7/1/1916  Died 3/6/1941

Pilot Officer David Edward Somerville Hawkins

Categories: Armed Forces

War dead, WW2 i

Commemorated on a memorial as having died in WW2.

David Edward Somerville Hawkins was born on 7 January 1916 the youngest of the three children of Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933) and Lady Elizabeth Somerville Hawkins née Sheldon (1882-1946). His birth was registered in the St Giles registration district, London. On 26 February 1916 he was baptised at St Peter's Church, Walton-on-the Hill, Tadworth, Surrey, where in the marriage register his family were shown to be residing at Heath Farm, Deans Lane, Walton-on-the-Hill and that his father was an author. His two siblings were: Millicent Hope Hawkins (1904-1955) and Richard Sheldon Hope Hawkins (1905-1955). In our picture image of his family, he is the young boy in the top left of the photograph.

He attended Marlborough College, Bath Road, Marlborough, Wiltshire, where he was a Cadet Under Officer in the Marlborough College Contingent, Junior Division, Officer Training Corps. He went onto Christ Church College,Oxford where he obtained his B.A (Hons).

On 17 December 1933 he left the Port of Southampton, Hampshire, aboard the S.S. Bremen of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen Shipping Line travelling to New York, USA and arriving on 23 December 1933. On the ship's manifest he was shown as a 17-year-old student residing at 32 Well Street, Knightsbridge, London SW and was travelling tourist class. He returned to Plymouth, Devon, via Cobh, Ireland, arriving on 23 January 1934 aboard the S.S. Washington of the United States Line where in the ship's manifest he is shown as an 18-year-old student, again travelling tourist class and that his home address was Heath Farm, Walton-on-the-Hill, Tadworth. 

Electoral registers for 1938 and 1939 show him and his mother listed at 6 Spanish Place Mansions, Spanish Place, London, W1, together with a Miss Winifred Annie Dunford.

In the London Gazette he is shown commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery with effect from 12 August 1939. On 2 November 1940 he transferred to the Royal Air Force with the rank of Pilot Officer, service number 44803 and was attached to their General Duties Branch, later being assigned to No.226 squadron.

He died, aged 25 years, on 3 June 1941 when he took off from RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, in a Bristol Blenheim MkIV aeroplane, serial number Z7286, on a daylight solo training flight and collided with another Blenheim MkIV aeroplane containing the squadron's Commanding Officer. There were no fatalities in other aircraft, serial number Z7287. His death was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1941 in the Gipping registration district, East Suffolk (now Suffolk).

His body was buried in Plot 25, Row A, Grave 1, at the Brookwood Military Cemetery, Brookwood, Woking, GU24 0JD.

He is shown as 'Lieut. D. E. S. Hawkins' on the London Troops memorial plaque in Vicarage Gardens, Putney Bridge Approach, London, SW6. He is also shown as 'D.E.S. HAWKINS' on one of the two marble tablets in the Memorial Hall at Marlborough College and as 'HAWKINS DES' on Panel 179 of the Bomber Command war memorial at the International Bomber Command Centre, Canwick Avenue, Lincoln, LN4 2HQ. He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website, on one of the seven tablets on the outside wall of the entrance to Christ Church Cathedral, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1DP and in their Roll of Honour at Christ Church College, Oxford.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Pilot Officer David Edward Somerville Hawkins

Commemorated ati

London Troops memorial plaque - Fulham

We recognised this as a flat version of the monument at the Royal Exchange an...

Read More

Other Subjects

H. Mearing

H. Mearing

Resident of the Central Ward, Hendon who served and died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Bill Faust (Billy)

Bill Faust (Billy)

Died with Adam Meere in a fire in Bethnal Green, which started in the basement of a children's clothes shop, Sohan and Sons, and spread to the flat above. Operating out of Whitechapel Fire Station,...

Person, Armed Forces, Tragedy

3 memorials
Battle of St Vincent

Battle of St Vincent

A British fleet, lead by John Jervis, defeated a Spanish fleet almost twice its size, near Cape St Vincent, Portugal. Nelson distinguished himself in this battle where he commanded HMS Captain and ...

Event, Armed Forces, Portugal, Spain

3 memorials
P. S. Allcoat

P. S. Allcoat

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
J. Keith Alexander

J. Keith Alexander

Pilot Officer John Keith Alexander was born on 23 August 1912 in Joplin, Missouri, USA, the eldest of the five children of Ernest Earl Alexander (1890-1961) and Gladys Juanita Alexander née Burton ...

Person, Armed Forces, USA

War served, WW2
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Randall Thomas Davidson, Baron Davidson of Lambeth

Randall Thomas Davidson, Baron Davidson of Lambeth

Archbishop of Canterbury. Born Edinburgh. A pupil at Harrow. Suffered all his adult life from the damage to his lower back caused by a shooting accident. 1877 married Edith daughter of Archibald Ta...

Person, Religion, Scotland

3 memorials
William Tierney Clark - Fulham Reach

William Tierney Clark - Fulham Reach

W6, Thames Path, Fulham Reach

Don't get us wrong, we do like Hammersmith Bridge, but all his bridges look rather samey, don't they?

9 subjects commemorated