Arthur Louis Aaron

He was an ‘old boy’ of Roundhay School, Leeds (headmaster at the time was B.A.Farrow). There is a plaque in the main hall of the school to his memory incorporating the deed that merited the VC. On 5 March 2022 (Arthur’s 100th birthday) a Yorkshire Society blue plaque was unveiled at Roundhay School in memory of Arthur.

To mark the new Millennium, Leeds Civic Trust organised a public vote to choose a statue to mark the occasion, and to publicise the city’s past heroes and heroines. Candidates included Benjamin Latrobe and Sir Henry Moore. Arthur Aaron won the vote, with Don Revie beating Joshua Tetley and Frankie Vaughan as runner-up. Located on a roundabout on the eastern edge of the city centre, close to the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the statue of Aaron was unveiled on 24 March 2001 by Malcolm Mitchem, the last survivor of the aircraft. The five-metre bronze sculpture by Graham Ibbeson takes the form of Aaron standing next to a tree, up which are climbing three children progressively representing the passage of time between 1950 and 2000, with the last a girl releasing a dove of peace, all representing the freedom his sacrifice helped ensure. There was controversy about the siting of the statue, and it was proposed to transfer it to Millennium Square outside Leeds City Museum. However, as of 2012 the statue remains on the roundabout.

Aaron was a native of Leeds, Yorkshire, and was educated at Roundhay School and Leeds School of Architecture. When the Second World War started in 1939 Aaron joined the Air Training Corps squadron at Leeds University. The following year he volunteered to train as aircrew in the Royal Air Force. He trained as a pilot in the United States at No. 1 British Flying Training School (BFTS) at Terrell Municipal Airport in Terrell, Texas. Aaron completed his pilot training on 15 September 1941 and returned to England to train at an Operation Conversion Unit before he joined No. 218 “Gold Coast” Squadron, flying Short Stirling heavy bombers from RAF Downham Market.

Arthur Louis Aaron VC, DFM (5 March 1922 – 13 August 1943) was a Royal Air Force pilot and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He had flown 90 operational flying hours and 19 sorties, and had also been awarded posthumously the Distinguished Flying Medal.

Genealogical research carried out in 2018 – 2019 by David Rattee, shows Arthur Louis Aaron was baptised a Roman Catholic on 15 October 1922 at St. Mary’s Church, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. The Baptism Record is held in the archives of Ampleforth Abbey Trust. Arthur’s father Benjamin gave his own religion as Church of England on his WW1 Army records. Arthur’s parents, Benjamin Aaron and Rosalie Marie Aaron (nee Marney) were married on 8 February 1919 at Addingham Parish Church, near Ilkley. Benjamin Aaron was born on 29 June 1891 at 29 Dewsbury Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and baptised on 2 August 1891 at St Mary the Virgin, Hunslet Parish Church, Leeds. Birth, baptism, marriage, death, census records and other published period documentation trace the paternal surname back to William Aaron (b. 1802 Hillam, near Sherburn-in-Elmet, d. 27 September 1877) and Faith Harrison (27 August 1796 – 1 June 1866) of Sherburn, Yorkshire. Aaron was a common surname in Yorkshire well before Jewish immigration to Leeds began.

Aaron was 21 years old, flying Stirling serial number EF452 on his 20th sortie. Nearing the target, his bomber was struck by machine gun fire. The bomber’s Canadian navigator, Cornelius A. Brennan, was killed and other members of the crew were wounded.