Gp/Cpt. D. S. Hoare served with 74 from August 1937 to May 1940.
He was just a 19 year old lad when he was stationed at Hornchurch.
On the 24th August, 1940, he was hit over Calais.  "Although our instructions were to patrol the Channel coastline we were told we could go inland if we were investigating any aircraft. I managed to collect a bullet from somewhere. It may have been a German infantryman or light flak or it may even have been from our own troops on the ground - Nevertheless I reformed and was intending to go back to base when Mungo Park called me up and said I was streaming glycol. I thought the sensible thing to do was what Squadron Leader White had done the previous day - go into Calais Marck airfield."

For 36 hours Sammy tried to get home by climbing on board small boats docked in Calais from the sand dunes but he was unsuccessful. Eventually he was picked up by an SS Panzer unit and saw out the next four years in a POW camp.