Sam Rushworth

Sam Rushworth

Labour — Bishop Auckland

Speaking in the House of Commons on 17 July 2025

Debate

RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit

Contribution

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. She has said that approximately one in two of those in the reconnaissance unit lost their lives. Of the two from the Bishop Auckland constituency, one did not survive: 20-year-old Flight Sergeant Peter Charles Wells from Whorlton village. He was shot down over Malta just two days before Christmas in 1941. His grave is inscribed with psalm 139:9: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me”. My hon. Friend emphasises the loss that we have experienced, and the absolute need to honour those people. I hope that Peter Wells’s family will have more than just a grave in Malta.

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