FLGOFF Paul John Dehlsen 14071

Paul was born on the 28th April 1920 in Concord, New South Wales. His father, an engineer, came from Denmark in 1909, married and had five sons. He insisted that all the children attended school through the Great Depression.

Date of birth - 28 Apr 1920
Place of birth - CONCORD NSW
Place of enlistment - SYDNEY NSW
Next of Kin - Hazel Dehlsen

"Down-under" Veterans commemorated with plaques at St Clement Danes By Steve Willmot 31 Mar 2009

"88-year-old Paul Dehlsen from Brisbane was a flying officer flying Spitfires in 457 Sqn that flew from Redhill in Surrey in 1941. He said: "It all happened so quickly. One moment I was training to fly, the next we were doing sweeps over the Channel hunting Luftwaffe bombers and trying to avoid their fighters. Mostly we were flying Mark 8s which were great for a while until faster German planes started to outpace us." No. 457 Squadron formed at Baginton, near Coventry, in June 1941, and was supported by the Royal Air Force but with Australian pilots, 457 flew Spitfires as part of Fighter Command's 9 and 11 Groups. They conducted patrols, providing bomber escort and sweeps over France and Belgium. After relocating to Australia, with its distinctive grey green Spitfires, 457 became known as the “Grey Nurse Squadron” - painting its aircraft with a distinctive shark's mouth. It was disbanded on 7 November 45."

---

Paul in back row third from the right - Darwin 2006

---