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Tim Fairhurst, DFC
IN the summer of 1942, Edward Armytage Fairhurst, always known as Tim, was one of three Spitfire pilots given the top secret and vital task of locating Hitler's North Sea Fleet.
The modified Spitfires were fitted with cameras, and so as to be able to carry the necessary fuel for such a long-range mission, were lightened by having their guns removed.
They were to operate from a Soviet base north of the Arctic Circle, but reaching that base proved to be problematical.
It was up to Fairhurst to work out the route, but the RAF's maps of the region were useless, having large blanks in them, described as "uncharted territory". Nevertheless, he succeeded in getting the three Spitfires to their destination, but before they began their search, RAF markings were replaced with the Soviet's red stars.
Over the next few weeks, some elements of the North Sea Fleet were found and tracked, but in the process, one of the Spitfires was shot down, and its pilot lost.
The remaining two were eventually left behind for the Russians – none too pleased that they had no guns – and Fairhurst and his surviving colleague returned to the UK by ship.
Wing Commander Fairhurst, who has died aged 91, was born in Mirfield and educated at Shrewsbury School.
Joining the Territorial Army in 1936, he was commissioned into the 7th West Yorkshire Regiment, but with little happening during the "Phoney War", he volunteered to train as pilot with the RAF, eventually joining the rakish Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), its ethos of derring-do promising the adventures and challenges he yearned for.
Over the next 12 months he flew numerous long-range sorties over Germany and Norway, the most challenging of them being the mission to track down the Nazis' North Sea Fleet.
Shortly afterwards, he was awarded the DFC, and briefly went to the USA to advise the USAAF on photographic operations.
Returning home, he took up reconnaissance flying again, first in Mosquitos and then as commander of No 541 Squadron. By the end of the war he had flown 88 long-range photographic sorties. He was twice mentioned in despatches, was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre avec Palme and received the Territorial Decoration. In old age he was invited to the Russian embassy to be presented with the Arctic Star.
After the war's end, he left the RAF, but two years later rejoined, flying Spitfires in Malaya before going to Hong Kong. He spent the final two years of his service as the permanent president of a court martial standing board. He retired from the RAF in 1965 and subsequently working for the MoD as a positive vetting officer.
Famous for his red socks, Tim Fairhurst enjoyed company, travel and his family. In later years he devoted much time on his family tree, tracing it back to an 18th century corn miller in Warrington.
Predeceased by his wife Wendy, who died in 1996, he is survived by three of their sons, one having died in infancy.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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