RAF aircraft named in honour of Lionel Rees, VC

As part of the Royal Air Force’s centenary activities (RAF100), the RAF named a BAe 146 aircraft from Number 32 (The Royal) Squadron after Caernarfon‑born Group Captain Lionel Rees, who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War. This was the first time the RAF have named an aircraft in such a way for over 50 years.

Group Captain Lionel Rees VC was awarded his Victoria Cross for his actions on the 1st of July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He single-handedly engaged with several enemy aircraft, bringing down two of them and driving the remainder back behind enemy lines, whilst having been shot in the thigh during the battle. Rees was the First Officer Commanding of Number 32 Squadron at the time of his VC action. A special naming ceremony took place at RAF Valley on Anglesey in June 2019, with three generations of the Rees family in attendance, along with serving RAF Officers and local dignitaries. The event also included a flypast over Caernarfon, together with an historical exhibition of Rees’ life at the town’s Council Offices. Members of Rees’ family travelled from the Bahamas and the United States of America to attend as Rees had emigrated to the Bahamas in the 1930s and returned there after fighting in the Second World War. He married and had three children before dying in 1955. His VC medal is now part of the Ashcroft collection in the Imperial War Museums, London.

Left: Captain Lionel Rees © MOD / Crown copyright