Stanley A. Hibbert

Name : Stanley Arthur Hibbert

Rank : Sergeant - Pilot, No.96 Squadron

Ser. No. : 748759

Dates at Cranage : 1941

Below is information passed to me by Mr Hibbert's grand daughter on April 28, 2013.

E-mail 1 & 2

28 - 04 & 01 - 05 - 2013

My Grandpa, Sgt. Stanley Arthur Hibbert, 748759, served at R.A.F. Cranage with No.96 Squadron. He flew night fighter Defiant aircraft with No.96 as well as Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft with other units. Prior to Cranage he was with No.72 Squadron at R.A.F. Aklington, part on No.13 Fighter Group.

He was attached to the 1st U.S. Night Fighter Sqn and tested the Northrop P-61 Black Widow for the Americans, and went over to France just after D-Day, landing on one of the temporary airfields that had been set up.

He is mentioned in Swift into Battle (pg 129) and Eyes of the Night (pg 100) with reference to his time at Cranage. He flew with Sgt. Heycock as his gunner in the Defiant and is credited with shooting down a He111k over Liverpool, which eventually crashed in Widnes.

He and Flt/Off Wilson pinched a Beaufighter to get to a friends wedding in Dunbar. While Flt/Off Wilson had a few too many, my Grandpa remained sober in order to get the aircraft back. Upon his return his commander told him that, had he asked, he could of stayed over for the night and had a drink.

My Grandpa had a best man in mind for his own wedding [see photo below], his name was Alan Black and unfortunately he transferred to a Mosquito Sqn and was killed when his plane was attacked and shot down. His next choice was also killed, this time on a raid at Dieppe. All very sad.

When he was at Cranage he remembers going out, into town, and stealing a weighing machine and a large poster of Merle Oberon (shown left).

He did an interview for the radio programme ‘Down Your Way’ in the 1960s, the interview was conducted by Franklin Englemann. He had to choose a favourite song, he went with ‘Skylark’ by Dinah Shore in honour of his mates who were killed during the war. They often used to listen to it at night in their quarters.

Below: Sergeant Hibbert (centre) and friends.