Corporal Denis Dermot Kane (543862) served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the son of Captain Richard Rutledge Kane M.C., 4th Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1921 to 1929, and Ethel Emma Kane (née Thurston).
In the early stages of the Second World War, Denis served in R.A.F. 240 Squadron. This Flying Boat Squadron reformed at R.A.F. Calshot, Southampton, Hampshire, England on 30th March 1937. Between 12th August 1939 and 4th November 1939, the Squadron operated from R.A.F. Invergordon, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland flying sorties over the North Sea. Corporal Kane was a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner on Saro London Mark II Flying Boats.
WartimeNI Photo: The Kane family plot in Belfast City Cemetery commemorates Corporal Denis Dermot Kane who died on 3rd November 1939. Photo taken on tour of Belfast City Cemetery with Peter McCabe in Spring 2017. Copyright Scott Edgar - WartimeNI.
Denis died on 3rd November 1939 on Saro London K9686 BN-K. The Mark II Flying Boat with R.A.F. 240 Squadron was on a mission over the Norwegian coast when it failed to return to the Scottish airfield.
Aircraftman 1st Class C. Wilson, Leading Aircraftman A.J. Saffin, Acting Flight Lieutenant J.M.H. Sinclair, Pilot Sergeant T.E. Page, and Aircraftman 1st Class J.C. Lewis also died as a result of the plane loss.
Denis Dermot Kane has no known grave. His name is on Panel 2 of the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England. His name along with that of his brother Second Lieutenant Bryan Desmond Uprichard Kane is on the Kane family memorial at Belfast City Cemetery. The headstone is that of his Grandfather Reverend Dr. Richard Rutledge Kane, former County Grand Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge in Belfast.