F/O Martin Soors RAF

197 Squadron, April – November 1943, MIA.

Five Belgian pilots flew with 197 Squadron RAF: S/L León Prévot, P/O Jean Parisse, F/O Martin Soors, F/L Raymond A. “Cheval” Lallemant, and F/O André de Bie de Bellefroid. Each contributed greatly to the Squadron’s success over the two and a half years of its existence. The individual stories of these pilots, all fraught with hardship and danger, exemplify the courage, dedication, and determination these men brought to the fight against tyranny. All, except Flying Officer Martin Soors – who made the ultimate sacrifice – were highly decorated by their native and other nations; however, for reasons of space, only their British decorations are stated here.

F/O Martin Lambert Soors (131867) joined ‘A’ Flight, 197 Squadron on April 6, 1943. 

When Belgium was invaded by the Germans in May 1940, Martin Soors, a pre-war regular in the Aéronautique Militaire Belge, was an instructor at the Advanced Flight School at Goetsenhaven in Flemish Brabant. Soors went with the Belgian flight schools when they were ordered to France on 12 May 1940 and thereafter to Oujda airbase in Morocco. With the capitulation of Belgium and France, and as ordered by the Belgian government, Soors, along with most of the other instructors and pilots, dutifully returned to Belgium. Subsequently arrested by the Germans, Martin Soors became a POW in Stalag IIb in Pomerania, Poland. In 1942, Soors managed to escape reaching England via France and Spain, where he was incorporated into the RAF as Pilot Officer Soors (Svc No. 131867). On completion of his operational training on Course 32-A at 58 OTU, RAF Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland, Pilot Officer Soors was posted to 197 Squadron RAF, arriving at RAF Tangmere on April 6, 1943.

Initially, along with the other pilots of ‘A’ Flight, Soors flew defensive standing patrols guarding the approaches up the Solent to Portsmouth from Luftwaffe “Tip & Run” raiders. As this threat declined, 197 Squadron went on the offensive, and Soors flew on several Ramrod and escort missions, Roadsteads and fighter sweeps. During one such sweep, the Squadron was bounced by Me 109 fighters, leading to a swirling dogfight in which Pilot Officer Callaghan claimed an Me 109 as probably destroyed.

Other missions, search and destroy operations, code-named “Rhubarbs”, were conducted by pairs of aircraft during the day and single aircraft at night. Now a Flying Officer, Soors volunteered for one such night intruder sortie, intending to attack the airfield at Poix-de Picardie on the night of  November 10, 1943. Flying Typhoon 1b OV–V (Srl. JP588) from RAF Manston, Soors failed to return from the operation. Listed as “Missing – believed killed“, the cause of his loss is unknown. 

Flying Officer Martin Lambert Soors RAF, is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial (Panel 1/29).

Flying Officer Martin Lambert Soors

Born: February 9, 1909, MIA: November 10, 1943

Research and text by L. K. Byrne. Sources:  197 Squadron Operations Record Book, AIR27/1169, The National Archives, UK and 350sqn-raf.be (by kind permission of Sorge Bonge). Images courtesy of Serge Bonge, Chris Thomas, Roy Allan, Aircrew Remembered and Wikipedia.

Title image: P/O Martin Soors. RAF Tangmere, summer 1943, courtesy of Serge Bonge