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Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) was established on June 3rd, 1918, the birthday of King George V, and is awarded to Officers and Warrant officers for "an act or acts of valour and courage or devotion to duty performed whilst flying in active operations against the enemy". A straight silver bar is a further enhancement of the DFC, awarded for additional acts under the same terms as the cross.

The award has the shape of a silver cross and was designed by Edward Carter Preston. On the obverse aeroplane propellers are superimposed upon the vertical arms of the cross. Within a central winged roundel, encircled by a wreath of laurels and surmounted by a Imperial Crown, appear the letters RAF. In the central circle on the reverse the Royal Cyphers, GV, GVI, EIIR, appear above the date 1918. The year of issue is engraved on the lower arm of the award. The DFC is issued unnamed.
The ribbon is 1.25 inches wide, and consists of alternating violet and white stripes, each 0.125 inches wide, leaning at 45 degrees from the vertical. Until 1919, the stripes were horizontal.

From the entire period of the award from it’s inception in 1918 until 1939 when the award changed to the GVI type, only 1,217 GV DFC's were issued.

During the Second World War a total of 20,354 DFCs were awarded, with approximately 1,550 first bars and 42 second bars. Honorary awards were made on 964 occasions to aircrew from other non-commonwealth countries.
A total of 4,018 first DFC's were awarded to RCAF personnel, plus 213 first bars and 6 second bars and also 358 to FAF/RAA/RNZAF persons in RCAF, plus 23 first bars. Also there were 247 DFC's awarded to Canadians in the RAF, plus 34 first bars.
New Zealand RNZAF personnel received 1,032 DFC Crosses, eighty four first bars and four second bars, one Cross was awarded to a member of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
A total of 44 Dutch airmen received the DFC.

Aanjesen, Ola Gert* August 30th, 1918
† September 2nd, 2002

Grid List
Page, Allen Geoffrey* May 16th, 1920
† August 3rd, 1980

Palmer, Robert Anthony Maurice* July 7th, 1920
† December 23rd, 1944
Plot: 14 Row: C Grave: 13-14

Pannell, Geoffrey Charles Russell* August 22nd, 1913
† May 3rd, 1980

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Pantkowski, Franciszek* January 3rd, 1918
† October 30th, 1942

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Pare, Ivan Murray* June 6th, 1920
† June 17th, 1962

Pare, Robin S.* July 16th, 1919
† June 3rd, 1942
Grave: 266

Parker, Edward Donald* May 20th, 1910
† January 16th, 1943
Plot: 1 Row: F Grave: 3

Parker, Frank Barry "Sam"* August 5th, 1923
† June 20th, 2011

Parkin, Leslie Hugh William† February 22nd, 1942

Parry, Owen Arthur* May 23rd, 1922
† April 19th, 2016

Partridge, John Eely* March 23rd, 1914
† February 1st, 2010

Paszkiewicz, Ludwik Witold* October 21st, 1907
† September 27th, 1940
Plot: H Grave: 224

Paterson, Victor Roberton† September 21st, 1942
Plot: Allied Row: 1 Grave: 2

Patrick, Richard Cecil* October 8th, 1917
† March 28th, 2005

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Patterson, Charles Elliott Sinclair* November 27th, 1919
† March 2nd, 2008

Pattison, John David* September 11th, 1919
† October 2nd, 1986

Pattison, John Gordon* January 27th, 1917
† September 11th, 2009

Pattle, Marmaduke Thomas St John ‘Pat’* July 3rd, 1914
† April 20th, 1941

Paturau, Joseph Maurice* April 23rd, 1916
† June 27th, 1996

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Payne, Anthony Bremner† May 31st, 1942
Plot: 85 Row: C Grave: 17

Peacock, Reginald John* 1918
† February 5th, 1943
Plot: 10 Row: B Grave: 5

Pearce, Frederick Laurence* August 9th, 1898
† December 3rd, 1975

Pearce, Frederick William† December 25th, 2015

Pearse, Leslie Lewis* April 22nd, 1915

Pedrina, William Allan* May 20th, 1919
† December 15th, 1943
Plot: A6 Row: E Grave: 20

Pegg, Clarence Roy* September 30th, 1914
† October 2nd, 1991

Pemberton, David Alwyne† November 3rd, 1940

Penman, David Jackson* October 14th, 1919
† November 27th, 2004

Penman, James Honeyman† July 31st, 1972

Penman, William Mitchell† October 3rd, 1943
Plot: 3 Row: A Grave: 8

Pennington, Denis Arthur* March 3rd, 1921
† December 31st, 1995

Pennington, John Ray† January 13th, 1943
Plot: 4 Grave: 126

Penrose, George William* 1914
† January 14th, 1944
Plot: 29 Row: B Grave: 2

Pentland, Alexander Augustus Norman Dudley "Jerry"* August 5th, 1894
† November 3rd, 1983

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Pepper, Neville Ernest Wetherell† June 3rd, 1941
Plot: 28 

Perkins, Albert Sydney† August 27th, 1944
Grave: 242

Perrin, Arthur Richard* July 23rd, 1910
† March 22nd, 1965

Perrin, John Rowley "Jock"* October 9th, 1916
† September 18th, 1992

Peterson, Chesley Gordon* August 10th, 1920
† January 28th, 1990

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Pethick, Arthur Frank† February 28th, 2002

Philpot, Oliver Lawrence Spurling* March 6th, 1913
† May 6th, 1993

Pickard, Percy Charles* May 16th, 1915
† February 18th, 1944
Plot: 3 Row: B Grave: 13

Pim, Anthony Stanley Mortimer† January 23rd, 1945
Plot: 8 Row: F Grave: 19

Pinkerton, George Cannon* June 11th, 1909

Pisarek, Marian* January 3rd, 1912
† April 29th, 1942

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Pleasance, Harold Percival "Flash"* April 23rd, 1914
† April 29th, 2004

Plenderleith, Robert* March 30th, 1918
† March 5th, 2005

Pniak, Karol* January 26th, 1910
† November 10th, 1980

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Ponsford, Ian Reginald* March 20th, 1922
† December 29th, 2006

Poole, Alfred Raymond† February 4th, 1989

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Pope, Sidney Leo Gregory* March 27th, 1898
† November 5th, 1980

Porter, Edward Leach† August 17th, 1944
Plot: 5 Row: C Grave: 1-10

Potocki, Wladyslaw Jan "Spud"* June 6th, 1919
† December 23rd, 1996

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Poulton, Harry Robert Godfrey* September 19th, 1918
† 1998

Powell, Hubert Charles Sidney "Sandy"* May 1st, 1920
† September 5th, 2010

Powell, John Leonard† April 16th, 1945
Plot: 5 Row: B Grave: 1-5

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Poziomek, Stanislaw* March 22nd, 1908
† April 11th, 1944
Plot: 2 Row: B Grave: 1

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Pozyczka, Teofil* April 12th, 1912
† 1974

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Preston, Arthur Edmundson† July 10th, 1949

Price, Lyall Basil Burman* April 18th, 1920
† July 29th, 1942
Plot: 32 Row: J Grave: 1

Price, Thomas McBride* November 14th, 1914

Prichard, Richard Julian Paget* October 4th, 1915
† April 2001

Prihoda, Josef* October 9th, 1914
† March 6th, 1943
Row: 129 

Prior, Garfield Wallace† January 22nd, 1944
Plot: 201 

Pujji, Mohinder Singh* August 14th, 1918
† September 18th, 2010

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Purdy, Philip Hannah* October 25th, 1918
† June 9th, 1940

Purvis, Harry Alexander* October 21st, 1905
† December 23rd, 1966

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Purvis, Victor Davenant* August 24th, 1922
† July 7th, 1944

Pushman, George Rupert* May 12th, 1918
† 2001

Puysseleyr, De, Joseph F.V.R.* October 17th, 1918
† January 9th, 1945

Sources