War veteran honoured by France

A Second World War veteran who co-founded a Folkestone based charity - which also has offices at Henwood in Ashford - has been awarded a top honour by the French government for his part in liberating Europe from the Nazis. Stuart King, now 94, founded the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) which flies aid to some of the most remote areas or places cut off by disasters after four years in the RAF during the war. He was awarded the Légion d’Honneur at a recent ceremony. After volunteering for the RAF he landed in Normandy six days after D-Day on June 12, 1944 as part of a rocket-firing Typhoon squadron which launched ground attacks on enemy positions. He served with 247 Squadron until the end of the campaign in Europe which overthrew the Nazis. After the war he turned to use his skills to heal rather than destroy and set up MAF where aircraft were key in reaching some of the most inaccessible places in the world to provide help for people cut off. The first flight took place in 1948 as Mr King and a colleague set off for Kenya and over the next 20 years they also set up networks in Ethiopia, Chad and Kenya. The charity has grown from the one-plane operation to using more than 130 aircraft operating in 25 countries around the world today. French honorary consul for the French government James Ryland presented Mr King with his medal. It acknowledged his “military engagement and steadfast involvement in the Liberation of France during the Second World War. We owe our freedom and security to your dedication, because you were ready to risk your life.”

Stuart King, founder of the Mission Aviation Fellowship, is awarded French Legion d’honneur from honorary consul James Ryland