Biography

Family background

Dennys Payne Finnimore was born on the 18th April 1908 in Ranikhet, India, the son of George Finnimore and his wife Mary Agnes (nee Payne). George was from Kentish Town, London, and was a career soldier having first enlisted in The Rifle Brigade in 1894. George served for over 25 years and saw service in the UK and in India, Somaliland, Aden, India and, in World War 1, in Mesopotamia. George married Mary Agnes on the 29th September 1904 at the Ascension Church in Battersea, and after that occasionally Mary would have accompanied George on postings abroad. George and Mary had three children, the eldest, Kathleen Mary Finnimore, was born on the 18th December 1905 and was baptised on the 19th December. Unfortunately Kathleen died aged just three years old on the 2nd April 1908. By that time Mary was pregnant with their second child, Dennys Payne Finnimore, and she gave birth to Dennys in India just two weeks after Kathleen's death.

George had been serving with the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade but in 1909 he was transferred to become the Superintendent (Class IV) of the Hyderabad (Sind) Detention Barracks. At some time Dennys and his mother returned to England and they were listed in the 1911 census living at 15 Holden Street, Battersea. The head of the household was Anastasia Payne, Dennys' widowed grandmother, her son, Albert James Payne who was in the army, Mary Agnes Payne, now aged 33, and Mary's sisters Lily (aged 31) and Daisy Ada (aged 22). Lily was a shorthand typist for the civil service and Daisy was a music teacher. Dennys, aged 2, completed the household.

Mary must have returned to India soon after the census as her third child, Muriel Francis Mary Finnimore, was born on the 28th September 1912 in Trimulgherry, India. Unfortunately something must have gone wrong around the time of the birth, and George's wife Mary Agnes died on the 7th October 1912. This must have been a devastating time for George, now with a new born baby while he was far from home and with no mother to bring up the baby. George's records don't say what happened and how he was helped but he continued his military career and the new baby survived. We next find Dennys and his new younger sister, Muriel, living with their grandmother in the 1921 census of England at 1 Devonshire Villas, The Esplanade, Shanklin. This stay may have been a short trip to the Isle of Wight, as the whole family are recorded as being visitors. However we note that the Esplanade in Shanklin was the business address of Payne Bros., boat & bathing machine proprietors, so it is possible that this was a family visit to relatives. In 1921, the head of the household was again Anastasia Payne, and also present were Lily and Daisy as well as Dennys and his sister Muriel. Both Lily and Daisy were listed as superintendents of typists in the War Office.

Our next trace of Dennys comes from the 1932 electoral roll of 64 Sutherland Grove in the Clapham, Putney and Stretham district of London. On the register at that address were Anastasia, Lily and Daisy Ada Payne, and Dennys is listed but as an absent voter due to Naval or Military service.

In 1938 Dennys married Dorothy May Whitby and by the next year Dennys and Dorothy were on the electoral roll for Collingham registered at 5 Compton Terrace. Later, when the National Registration was taken in 1939, Dennys, Dorothy May and Dennys' sister Muriel (now listed as Muriel F M Wilkes having married) were all recorded at 5 Compton Terrace. Dennys was an insurance inspector but had already volunteered as part of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) unit.

Service record

During World War 2 Dennys served in the RAF with a service number 103170. Dennys started his RAF career in 1941 when he was aged 33. He spent three weeks at RAF Uxbridge being inducted into the RAF. On the 29th August 1941 he was posted to RAF Feltwell. Dennys was marked down for training as a Regional and Flying Control Officer - the precursor to Air Traffic Control, and his initial time at Feltwell was pending a "R C Course" - a Regional Control Course. He underwent training on No 5 Regional Control Course at Regional Control School, RAF from 6th October to the 3rd Novemeber 1941. Regional Control School had been set up during September 1940 at RAF Mildenhall, but moved to Brasenose College, Oxford on 10 May 1941. So it is likely that Dennys went to Oxford for this course. After the course Dennys returned to RAF Feltwell where he undertook further R/C training before becoming Regional Control Flying Officer on the 4th December 1941. RAF Feltwell is located about 10 miles west of Thetford, in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. The airfield was home to a number of heavy bomber squadrons of the RAF during the Second World War, during the period Dennys was there principally numbers 57 and 75 squadrons flying Wellington bombers.

After about a year at RAF Feltwell, Dennys was posted as Flying Control Flying Officer to 14 OTU (14 Operational Training Unit) at RAF Cottesmore where he remained for about two years. On the 15th June 1944, just a few days after D-Day, Dennys moved as a Flying Control Squadron Leader to 85 OTU at RAF Husbands Bosworth. One year later, on the 20th May 1945 he moved again to 54 Base RAF at RAF Coningsby. Dennys was chosen to become part of 551 Wing RAF, based at RAF Coningsby and due to form part of Tiger Force, the RAF units expected to go to Burma and the Far East to continue the war against Japan. However the dropping of the atomic bombs brought an end to the war and 551 Wing's deployment was cancelled at Dennys reverted to Flying Control at 54 Base (Coningsby). Dennys ended his RAF career there and on 1st February 1946 he was taken on the strength of 100 Personnel Despatch Centre where he was released from RAF service. At the end of the war Dennys was Mentioned in Despatches for his service.

After the war

After the war Dennys returned briefly to the Wetherby area, being on the Collingham electoral roll in 1946 with Dorothy at Briardene, 5 Compton Terrace. After that they left the area. Dennys died on the 27th November 2000.

Biography last updated 30 April 2024 14:56:12.