RAF Benevolent Fund pays tribute to Pilot Officer Russell ‘Rusty’ Waughman

All at the RAF Benevolent Fund pay tribute to the service and life of Pilot Officer Russell ‘Rusty’ Reay Waughman D.F.C., A.F.C, L’dH, who has sadly passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

Rusty, originally from Shotley Bridge, County Durham, was aged 20 when he began flying operations with 101 Special Duty Squadron in November 1943. 

Rusty completed over 30 missions as a Lancaster pilot with Bomber Command during the Second World War and survived a mid-air collision with his crew unscathed.

At the 10th Anniversary of the Bomber Command Memorial in 2022, Rusty said: "At the time – when I was 20 years old – it was a bit of an ego trip, but as I grew up, I learnt what was going on and what I actually did. The unfortunate thing is you remember you bombed Berlin and you bombed all the big cities, and you suddenly realise – how many people have I killed? And this came to me very seriously after the war.”

He added: "The Bomber Command Memorial means an awful lot. It should have been done years ago, of course politics came into it, but it really was a remarkable effort to get the funding and get the money to do it. The RAF Benevolent Fund and those who organised it did a wonderful thing. The expression on those faces on the memorial really means something. When you look at it, it takes you back all those years."

The Fund is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Pilot Officer Russell ‘Rusty’ Waughman D.F.C., A.F.C, L’dH. Rusty was a treasured and valued member of the RAF Family, not only in his remarkable and courageous leadership as a pilot defending our nation through the hardest times of War, but also in his generous support of the Fund. 

Our deepest condolences go out to Rusty’s friends and family at this sad time.