Guy Branch

Flying Officer Guy Rawstron Branch EGM (1913–1940) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, one of The Few. He was killed in action on 11 August 1940. After his death the next-of-kin were obliged to exchange his Empire Gallantry Medal for a George Cross which had been created in 1940.

Early life
Branch was born in 1913 in London, the son of Charles Churchill Branch and Mary Madelaine Bernadette Branch (née Rawstron). He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. On 7 May 1937 he was commissioned as Pilot Officer in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. On 25 March 1939 in Lewes he married Lady Prudence Mary Pelham, daughter of the 6th Earl of Chichester.

Accident and award
On 8 January 1938 Branch was a student pilot was flying as a passenger in a Hawker Demon with Pilot Officer Crawley when it crashed and burst into flames at RAF Upavon. Branch escaped but then returned to the aircraft to free the trapped pilot and pull him clear. For his actions he was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal on 25 March 1938

Battle of Britain
During the Battle of Britain Branch by then a Flying Officer was a Hawker Hurricane pilot with 145 Squadron. On 8 August 1940 he was credited with destroying two Junkers Ju 87s. A few days later on 11 August 1940 while flying Hurricane serial number P9251 he was killed in action over the English channel.

Branch was buried in the churchyard at Quiberville, France. His name recorded on the Battle of Britain Monument in London and at the Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne.