🌺 The Young Flight Engineer Lost Over Holland — Sergeant William Darby, RAF 🌺 William Darby was born in the early 1920s and grew up in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. He was the son of Albert and Gertrude Darby — parents who would later lose both of their sons in World War II. As the war intensified, William volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He trained as a Flight Engineer — a vital but unforgiving role, responsible for keeping a heavy bomber alive under fire: monitoring engines, fuel,