Arthur Louis Aaron

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Arthur Louis Aaron VC, DFM (5 March 1922–13 August 1943) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

1 VC action
2 Memorials
3 References
4 External links

[edit] VC action

He was 21 years old, and an acting flight sergeant in No. 218 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 12 August 1943 during a raid on Turin, Italy, Flight Sergeant Aaron's bomber was attacked by a night fighter and was very badly damaged. The navigator was killed, other members of the crew were wounded, Flight Sergeant Aaron's jaw was broken and part of his face was torn away. He had also been hit in the lung and his right arm was useless. Despite his terrible injuries he managed to level the aircraft out at 3000ft. and then the bomb aimer took control until he rallied his failing strength enough to direct the difficult landing operation. He died nine hours after the aircraft touched down.

[edit] Memorials

He was an 'old boy' of Roundhay School, Leeds (headmaster at the time was B.A.Farrow). There is a very noticeable plaque in the main hall of the school to his memory incorporating the deed that merited the VC. Because of his surname, he is thought to have been Jewish but he was not. Aaron's Victoria Cross is displayed at the Leeds City Museum.

To mark the new Millennium, the Leeds Civic Trust organised a public vote to chose 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 northern 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.^[1] There is much controversy about the poor and inappropriate siting of this statue (early 2008) and there are moves afoot to transfer it to Millennium Square outside the new Museum due to be opened later in 2008.