Hamilton Upton

Hamilton Charles Upton, DFC (13 March 1912 – 1 August 1965) was a Canadian flying ace who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

607 Squadron but due to injuries arising from crash landings he made during the Battle of Britain, the majority of the remainder of his war service was as a flying instructor and fighter controller.

[1] At the time, the squadron was based at Wick and operated Hawker Hurricane fighters on protective patrols over shipping moving along the north west coastline.

43 Squadron was scrambled to deal with the threat and in the ensuring engagement, Upton shot down two Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers off Ventnor.

His Hurricane developed an engine fault immediately afterwards and he had to make an emergency landing at Whitwell on the Isle of Wight.

His own aircraft was damaged by return machine gun fire in this action and he had to make a forced landing on the beach at Selsey.

In a dogfight to the north west of Worthing on 4 September, Upton destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter.

In October, the squadron relocated to Turnhouse where for several weeks it was engaged in convoy patrols and also trained several pilots from the air forces of now German-occupied Central European countries.

[1][9] In December 1940, Upton was assigned to the RAF's Central Flying School at Upavon to undergo training as an instructor.

[11] He spent the next several months on instructing duties, both in the United Kingdom and in Canada, and was promoted to flight lieutenant on 1 February 1942.

[1][12] Injuries sustained during his crash landings in the Battle of Britain affected Upton's quality of life and he was also prone to periods of unconsciousness.

In civilian life, he initially settled in Ontario, working for a radio station before soon relocating to Nova Scotia, living in Truro where he was employed in a sales and advertising role.

A group of pilots of No. 43 Squadron, April 1940; Upton stands on the far right