Pilot Officer Vivian Lester Currie (106035) served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. Born on 17th July 1920 in Newhaven, Sussex, he was the son of Captain Samuel Currie and Margaret Currie (née Wray) of Stormont, Belfast.
Friends and family knew the Royal Air Force pilot as Lester. Those serving alongside him in RAF 263 Squadron called him Paddy. Lester died on 23rd July 1942 aged 22 years old. He was the pilot of Westland Whirlwind P7035. The Mark I plane engaged 2 German fighter planes in a skirmish over the English Channel. Currie’s plane came down in the sea to the north of Morlaix, Brittany, France.
Imperial War Museum Photo: CH 4997 (Part of the Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection). Whirlwind Mark I P6984 HE-H similar to the plane flown by Pilot Officer Vivian Lester Currie of RAF 263 Squadron. Photo taken on the ground at Exeter, Devon. Copyright Flight Lieutenant Bertrand John Henry Daventry.
Vivian Lester Currie has no known grave. His name is on the Currie family plot in Dundonald Cemetery, Dundonald, Co. Down and on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England. The war memorial at Belmont Presbyterian Church, Belfast also commemorates the airman.