Ronald Chandler was born on 24 January 1917, in Croscombe, near Wells in Somerset. He attended the village school in nearby Horrington where, in July 1930, at the age of 13, he received a good attendance certificate for not missing a single day’s school that year.

He was a keen footballer and played for the winning Croscombe football team on 6 May 1935, in a match to celebrate the Jubilee of King George V.

He enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an Aircraftman and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

Immediately following the outbreak of war, on 23 September 1939, he married his 19 year old sweetheart Marjorie Lilian Whiffin.

A year later, he started training as a pilot and was awarded his Flying Badge (the famous “Wings”) on 31 March 1941, at the age of 24.

After further training, in October 1941 he was posted to the Middle East to join 247 Squadron as his first operation posting. He was then posted to 94 Squadron at the beginning of 1942.

He contracted dysentery and was hospitalised between April and June 1942. He was subsequently posted to his final squadron, 73 Squadron (motto “Tutor et Ultor”; protector and avenger), in July 1942.

He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in October 1942. He was subsequently promoted to Flying Officer some six weeks before he was killed, although this was not formally gazetted until after his death.

In 73 Squadron he exclusively flew Hurricane Mk II c aircraft. He flew over 250 operational hours in the 9 months he was with the squadron, with over half of those hours being night flying, which was an unusually high proportion and was a reflection of the unique role of the squadron.

He was killed soon after taking off for a dawn patrol on 16 April 1943. No details are available for what caused the crash. Three months after his death, Flying Officer Chandler’s wife was delivered of a stillborn child. She never remarried.

He received a field burial in a temporary cemetery near his base at Sfax in Tunisia. He was subsequently moved to his final resting place at the CWGC Cemetery at Medjej-el-Bab in Tunisia.

The personal dedication on his headstone, chosen by his widow, is the simple Hebrew word 'Mizpah', taken to mean “The Lord watch over us when we are apart”.