F/O Roger Bokobza RAFVR

197 Squadron RAF, 8 December 1942 – 14 February 1943, KIFA

After the German invasion and defeat of France in June 1940, the young Roger Bokobza made his way to England via Algeria. Born in Marseilles in August 1921, he hastily left France when the Germans arrived to take away some of his family to labour or concentration camps. Since he had some piloting experience as a student, he immediately offered his services to the RAF and was sent to Canada in 1941 to complete his pilot training. Returning to England in early 1942, he flew Hurricanes with 56 OTU at Tealing where, on October 6, 1942, he was involved in a landing accident in a Hurricane I (P5198).

Joining 197 Squadron at RAF Drem on December 8, 1942, P/O Bokobza commenced training on the Typhoon, though not without difficulty, as his logbook states:

“23.12.42 First Prang. P/O Bokobza made a very heavy landing at too slow a speed. Lack of experience and carelessness being contributory factors. Starboard oleo leg, starboard mainplane and airscrew damaged. Pilot unhurt”

Unfortunately, less than two months later P/O Bokobza’s flying came to an abrupt end:

 “Typhoon DN313 – lost 14 February 1943

Frenchman Flying Officer Roger Bokobza (124377) RAFVR took off on a night training flight from Drem. He was twenty-one years old and not long married to Evelyn Valerie Bokobza. At 02.14 hrs, he contacted his base by RT but, in the short time it took for Flying Control at Drem to reply, he had flown into the high ground above Hall’s Farm. This lies some three kilometres south-east of Stenton, East Lothian, and is on the very edge of the eastern Lammermuir Hills.

The station’s accident report stated that he had disregarded safety heights and made a navigation error. This bald explanation, however, was tempered by the inclusion of references to a “…possible failure of radio” and that “Flying Control Drem should have told Flying Control East Fortune of the failure of Drem occult [sic] at 00.30 hrs.” The report admitted that the “…radio control was not efficient [?] should have been told about occult [sic].”

Therefore, although F/O Bokobza’s flying record may not read well, this may be deceptive. 197 Squadron lost three other pilots at this time, including another on the same day as Roger Bokobza, all of whom flew into high ground during bad weather or at night. For inexperienced pilots, flying the Typhoon, particularly in poor flying conditions and at low level, was not easy.

Roger Bokobza is buried in Lincoln (Newport) Cemetery, and his gravestone was inscribed:

“Sa mort a déchiré nos cœurs,
On ne peut t’oublier.
Adieu, enfant chéri, adoré.”

Roger Bokobza was promoted, posthumously, to Flying Officer on May 27 1943. Tragically, Roger Bokobza’s parents remained unaware of his death until after the liberation of France.

Roger Bokobza’s wife Valerie later remarried to Roger’s friend F/Lt Raymond McNair Taylor, who flew, briefly, with 197 Squadron from January 5 to February 24, 1943. Sadly, he too was lost at sea on September 30, 1944. A small collection of F/O Roger Bokobza’s effects, presented by his widow in 1992, is on display at the Tangmere Aviation Museum.

Flying Officer Roger Bokobza

Born: February 9, 1909, KIFA: February 14, 1943

Research and text by L. K. Byrne.Sources: 197 Squadron ORB (National Archives AIR 27/1169) and East Lothian at War With thanks to the Tangmere Aviation Museum.