Dennis Neale, a member of the Guinea Pig Club - made up of servicemen who underwent reconstructive plastic surgery during World War II - has died at the age of 87.
The club was formed of pilots and bomber crews who became patients of Archibald McIndoe at Queen Victoria Hospital, in East Grinstead, Sussex. Mr Neale suffered severe injuries to his face while returning from a night mission over Germany. After landing safely, his plane was struck by another bomber on the runway.
Mr Neale joined the RAF at 15. He returned to service after his accident as a warrant officer at a base in Germany, though he was unable to fly.
After the war he ran the Red Lion Pub, in Cassington, before moving to Witney to work for Charles Early in Mill Street. There he met his second wife, Eunice, and in 1976 the couple married and settled in Witney. Mr Neale died on November 20, after a short battle with leukaemia.
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