WWII pilot's name to be added to monument
A World War II pilot who disappeared from public records is set to have his memory officially honoured at the Battle of Britain monument.
It is thought Sq Ldr Charles Alexander Ogilvy was left off the list because some wartime records were damaged.
His daughter Susan, from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, did some research and persuaded a committee to allow her father's name to be added.
The names of 2,936 British and Allied personnel are listed on the memorial.
Mrs Ogilvy was on a trip to London with family about four years ago when she inspected the memorial and found that the name of her late father was missing.
When her mother died, Susan found her father's Battle of Britain clasp, an item issued to all aircrew who fought in the Battle of Britain.
She also found records which showed her father had flown Spitfires and took part in two sorties on 25 October 1940.
She hired a researcher and contacted the Battle of Britain Memorial Committee to start the process of verifying her father's wartime records.
Mrs Ogilvy said: "My father became a squadron leader and although he never talked about the war it is right that his name appears on the memorial as it is something for our family to be proud of."
Born in Kelso in the Scottish Borders in November 1915, Sq Ldr Ogilvy joined 610 Squadron at Acklington on 14 October 1940 and flew two operational sorties on the 25th of that month, which qualified him for the clasp.
Edward McManus was on the London Monument committee and was responsible for compiling a master list for the monument.
He said: "As we were committing the names to bronze, I had to be certain that the lists were comprehensive.
"As time went by after the monument was unveiled, there were several approaches to say that we had made mistakes but none were substantiated.
"That was until Mrs Ogilvy got in touch. We are delighted to be able to honour the bravery of Sq Ldr Ogilvy in this way.
"It's a mystery as to why the October 1940 entries that registered his eligibility for the clasp were picked up at the end of the war but that he otherwise vanished without trace from the usual records."
Westminster City Council held a ceremony at the Battle of Britain Memorial on Monday followed by a reception at the The Royal Air Force Club.