In loving memory of Sgt Pilot Donald John Munro killed 29th Sep. 1943 aged 21; John Munro died 27th April 1955 aged 73; wife Margaret Ferrier Pace died 14th Nov. 1963 aged 70; W. Ferrier Pace Munro died 3rd Feb. 1995 aged 70 years, dear husband of Elaine
CWGC: Sergeant Donald John Munro, RAF Volunteer Reserve, Service no. 1369195; son of John and Margaret Munro, of Edinburgh; d. 29 Sept. 1943, a. 21. Z 471
Donald John Munro was born in Edinburgh in 1922, the eldest son of John Munro, a police constable, and his wife Margaret Ferrier Pace. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve which had been formed in 1936 to provide a reserve of aircrew for use in the event of war. When war broke out in 1939 the Air Ministry employed the RAFVR as the principal means for aircrew entry to serve with the RAF. A civilian volunteer on being accepted for aircrew training was inducted into the RAFVR and normally returned to his civilian job for several months before being called up for aircrew training. During this waiting period he could wear a silver RAFVR lapel badge to indicate his status.
It is more difficult to trace the careers of men in WW2 than in WW1. It appears that Donald enlisted in the RAFVR early in 1940 and by 1943 was a Sergeant Pilot. While based at Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire, at the No. 21 Advanced Flying Unit, he was killed during a training flight on 29 September 1943 when he flew into high ground at Henbury, Cheshire, in poor visibility.
World War 2 Index to Allied Airmen Roll of Honour, 1939-1945 (Ancestry)