Flight Sergeant Jack Donnelly Pringle (1485878) served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. Born on 20th May 1923, he was the son of the late Robert Samuel Pringle and Margaret Pringle of 37 Cregagh Road, Belfast.
Jack had 2 younger siblings, Cyril Ernest Pringle born on 16th May 1925 and Margaret Hazel Patricia Pringle born on 29th January 1929. The Belfast-born airman died at Harrowbeer, Yelverton, Devon at 1155hrs on 28th May 1944 aged 21 years old. He was the pilot of Hawker Typhoon EK211 with RAF 263 Squadron. On an air-to-air firing and dive-bombing practice, the plane hit the tower of St. Paul’s Church. It dislodged around half a dozen stones and crashed in fields below the church.
Jack Donnelly Pringle’s grave is in Section AL, Grave 36 of Carnmoney Cemetery, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim. His name is on a memorial at St. Paul’s Church, Yelverton, Devon. His headstone in Newtownabbey bears the inscription:
He gaveth the wings to fly to breath the purer air on high.