Hugh aged 24, was the ‘A’ Flight commander of 257 Squadron, which was in action almost daily during the critical Battle of Britain, on which the fate of the country depended in the summer of 1940.
On the 18th August hehad already been up with his squadron three times and at 1653 hrs their Hurricane fighters took off again from RAF Martlesham and vectored on to a large enemy formation with fighter escort approaching up the Thames Estuary intent on sustaining the continuous bombing of London. Hugh was heard to issue a frantic warning to the squadron about the attacking fighters, stating that he could not attack as another Hurricane was in his line of fire. Then silence.
None of the squadron saw what had happened to him, but a River Board worker inspecting the water ditches which criss-crossed the flat Isle of Sheppey, was watching the dog-fight developing above in a crescendo of engine noise and rattling of machine guns. He saw a lone Hurricane break away and dive vertically into the soft estuary ground. There was no fire or explosion. No time could be spent during the weeks of the Battle of Britain to mount salvage operations and as the aircraft was deeply buried it was eventually forgotten.
39 years later later, in August 1979, there was renewed interest by some enthusiasts in locating and excavating the wrecks of wartime planes. Hugh Beresford’s Hurricane was discovered and on September 29th the entire wreckage was recovered and filmed for a BBC TV programme. The unfortunate pilot was found still in his aircraft. He was laid to rest with full military honours in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, with the Band of the RAF and the Queen’s Colour Squadron providing the honours.