Henri Gonay



Squadron Leader Henri A. C. "Moustique" Gonay DFC, CdeG(Belgium), CdeG(France) (21 July 1913 – 14 June 1944) was a Belgian airman who was killed in action whilst flying with the Royal Air Force during World War II.

Gonay was born in Belgium, he joined the Belgian Army as a student pilot at the age of 18 in 1931. After the invasions of Belgium and France in 1940 he flew to England, where he enlisted in the RAF. After instructing pilots he requested to fly with an operational unit, he flew with No. 123 Squadron RAF until being given command of No. 263 Squadron RAF on 25 February 1944. Flying Hawker Typhoons, missions were flown against French coastal targets. Shortly after D-Day Gonay was wounded while attacking shipping, he was killed when his aircraft hit the ground in Jersey, where he was originally buried in the Allied War Cemetery, Howard Davis Park, Saint Saviour. After the war, he was reburied at the Belgian Airmen's Field of Honour in Brussels Cemetery.