Page 149 - They Also Served

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Vashon Wheeler 1916.
Vashon James Wheeler was born in
1898. At the age of 16, whilst still at
Eton, he absconded from CCF camp
and tried to enlist, having lied about his
age. However, the next year, he entered
Sandhurst and was commissioned into
the Rifle Brigade in September 1916.
Serving on the Western Front, he was
wounded three times, including the loss
of two fingers. Following the armistice,
he transferred to the Royal Fusiliers and
was sent to Russia in support of anti-Bolshevik forces. During one hectic week of fighting in September 1919, he was awarded the MC and second award bar.
Wheeler left the army in 1920 and spent the next ten years working in India, Rhodesia, New Zealand and Australia (where the former Eton boxing champion knocked out a fellow ranch hand for calling him an ‘effing Pommie’). Returning to the UK, he paid for flying training and earned a living in the 1930s as a commercial airline pilot. At the start of the Second World War, knowing he would be considered too old for operational flying, he again lied about his age and was granted a commission in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. At the same time, he discretely stopped claiming his Great War disability pension.
Wheeler flew firstly transport aircraft, then coastal patrols for most of 1940 before being posted to No.85 Squadron, where he flew 71 combat missions as a night fighter pilot. After shooting down two German bombers, he was awarded the DFC in September 1941. Promoted to acting wing commander, he commanded No.219 and later No.157 Squadrons, flying intruder flights over occupied France, which resulted in the award of a bar to his DFC, gazetted in September 1943.
By now aged 45 and nicknamed ‘Pop’, Wheeler was forbidden from flying as a fighter pilot but, at the height of the bomber offensive against Germany, managed to transfer to Bomber Command and was given command of 207 Squadron, flying Lancasters. He took every opportunity to fly. One of his NCOs noted: ‘The wing commander was a fantastic character for a crowd of young lads like us, going on every trip like he
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