Bankole Vivour

Bankole Beresford Vivour (1920 – 1931 March 1944) was a Nigerian-born Royal Air Force bomb crew member.

Bankole Vivour in RAF uniform, England

Early life

Bankole Vivour was born to Garnet Vivour (son of William Vivour) and Sarah Rhodes de Vivour.[1] He lived with his family in Lagos.

Royal Air Force career
Bankole Vivour on training field at airforce base, 10 November 1943

His passion for Africa and his knowledge of Germany's actions in Namibia inspired him to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. He left Lagos to join the RAF at 22 years old. He lived in Liverpool[2] and he spent time at the Victoria League Club where he kept up with Nigerian current affairs and enjoyed the company of other west Africans.

World War II

He joined 156 (Pathfinder) Squadron at the height of the winter offensive of 1943-44.[3] On 24 March 1944 Vivour participated in Bomber Command's main thrust to destroy Berlin.

Death
Bankole Vivour's tombstone, Reichswald Forest War Cemetery

He took part in the historic air battle in Nuremberg deep in the south of Germany. On 30 March 1944 his squadron took off from their base at RAF Upwood. German night fighters challenged and crushed the squadron's attacking force, resulting in 545 casualties including Sergeant Bankole Vivour. His bomber was shot down over Oberreißen by a night fighter, and all on board died. He was buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Germany.[4][5]

gollark: Future Circular Collider is an awful name.
gollark: Modern computers are theoretically a few thousand times faster but thanks to the power of bloatware mostly run at the same apparent speeds.
gollark: Well, everything was worse in the bad old days.
gollark: My *internet connection* is barely faster than 7Mbps.
gollark: All hail generics.

References
  1. "156 Squadron RAF". 156 Squadron RAF. 156 Squadron RAF. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  2. Bowman, Martin. Nuremberg: The Blackest Night in RAF History: 30/31 March 1944. Pen and Sword, Feb 29, 2016. ISBN 9781473852129.
  3. Lambo, Roger. Africans In Britain ; West Africans In The Royal Air Force ,1939-46. Frank Cass and Company Limited. p. 155. ISBN 0-7146-4571 0.
  4. "VIVOUR, BANKOLE BERESFORD". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  5. "Vivour B". www.losses.internationalbcc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
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