Leading Aircraftman Ritson Finlay Petts of Comber, Co. Down served in R.A.F. 100 Squadron. His Vickers Vildebeest Mk.II plane came down on 27th September 1939.
Leading Aircraftman
524461
Leading Aircraftman Ritson Finlay Petts (524461) served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Born at Mount Alexander on 30th October 1914, he was the youngest son of John Jeremiah Petts and Annie Petts (née Finlay) of Castle Buildings, 2 Castle Lane, Comber, Co. Down.
Ritson joined the R.A.F. in 1935 and served in the Far East. He died on 27th September 1939 aged 25 years old while serving in R.A.F. 100 Squadron.
Petts was one of a three-person crew on Vickers Vildebeest II K6378, taking part in a gun firing exercise. The plane crashed into the sea. Some records suggest the plane came under attack while others infer that a wing struck the water while flying at low-level. Pilot Officer Denis Eric Ryder also died as a result of the incident. A survivor of the crash Leading Aircraftman A.W.F. Barrow told how he and Petts had swum together for hours before large waves separated them.
Leading Aircraftman Petts has no known grave and his name is on Column 410 of the Singapore Memorial, Singapore, on the Comber and District War Memorial, Comber, Co. Down, and in the annals of Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Comber, Co. Down. On Friday 27th June 1952, Annie Petts laid a wreath at the new Garden of Remembrance in Comber, Co. Down in memory of her son.