Date of birth:

February 9th, 1919

Date of death:

February 28th, 2002

Service number:

184295

Nationality:

British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Ronald Lyell Munro was a student at Oxford when war was declared and volunteered to join the Royal Artillery. Although keen to see action, he spent much of the war training for the invasion, during which time he applied to become an Aerial Observation Post pilot. In April 1943 he was accepted and taught to fly by the R.A.F. After many training exercises, on June 29th 1944, he and his fellow pilots flew their Auster light aircraft across the English Channel to Normandy. They first saw action supporting artillery at Hill 112, outside Caen.
After the German retreat from Caen they continued through France to Belgium and then Holland, later crossing the Rhine into Germany and then fought on to Hamburg. During this time their role was to provide aerial reconnaissance, observing the enemy front line from the air and giving British artillery the information needed to aim their guns. In December 1944 he was given command of his flight. En route, on April 14th 1945 they arrived at Belsen and saw the release of the surviving inmates and burial of the dead.
He remained in Germany after the surrender, providing air transport for Generals and keeping the population in order. At the end of 1945 he returned to England and was demobilised in early 1946. He then returned to Oxford to complete his education.
After a career first in the British Colonial Service and then the Ministry of Defence (NATO) he retired to live in Scotland. In 2001 he was taken ill and died in York Hospital in February 2002, aged 83.


Career:
26 April, 1941; 2nd Lieutenant
19 February, 1949: relinquishes commission, granted honorary rank of Captain

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Temporary Captain

Unit:

653 Air OP Squadron RAF/Royal Artillery

Awarded on:

October 11th, 1945

Citation
"Captain Munro has commanded his flight with conspicuous success, always setting them an example of initiative and daring.
This was particularly marked during the rapid advance which followed the crossing of the RHINE. By his intelligent appreciation, and by personal ground and air reconnaissance, often in areas reached only by our most forward elements, he ensured the early selection of advanced landing grounds which alone made it possible for the flight to be at immediate call of the formation it was supporting throughout the operations."

WO 373/85/346

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Photo 1: Robert Munro
• - Page 2654 | Supplement 35157, 6 May 1941 | London Gazette | The Gazette
  - Page 4994 | Supplement 37302, 9 October 1945 | London Gazette | The Gazette
  - Page 860 | Supplement 38540, 18 February 1949 | London Gazette | The Gazette
  - Robert Munro