Erroll Chunder Sen

Sen was born in Calcutta to an Indian father and English mother.[2] His grandfather was the philosopher and social reformer Keshab Chandra Sen; and his aunt was Suniti Devi, the Maharani of Cooch Behar.[3] At an early age, he moved with his mother, brother and sister to England.[2] He was educated at Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire, where he joined its unit of the Officers' Training Corps.[4]

Sen applied for a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in November 1916, but his application was rejected as he was under age.[5] After a period working in a bank,[2] and having now turned 18, he made a second attempt in early 1917.[4] This time he was successful, and he was awarded a temporary honorary commission in the RFC as a second lieutenant, with effect from 24 April 1917.[6] He was ordered to report to the No. 1 School of Military Aeronautics at Reading from the same date.[5]

After two months at Reading, followed by 25 hours of elementary flying training and 35 hours in front line aircraft, Sen was posted to the Western Front.[4][5] He was assigned to No. 70 Squadron RFC, based at Poperinge in West Flanders, Belgium and equipped with the Sopwith Camel.[5] On 7 August 1917, he was appointed a Flying Officer in the RFC with the temporary rank of second lieutenant.[7] A month later, on 14 September, while taking part in an offensive patrol, Sen experienced engine failure and dropped behind the rest of his patrol. As he stated later in a deposition for the War Office, "...in attempting to catch up [with the remainder of the patrol, I] was lost in a cloud. Coming out [I] was attacked by 4 enemy machines. Both [fuel] tanks [were] hit & [I] crashed outside Menin. Unwounded."[5]

He was interned in Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp for the remainder of the war. He was a participant in the attempted mass escape from the camp on 23/24 July 1918, but was in the escape tunnel when it partially collapsed, resulting in the abandonment of the enterprise.[2][8] He was eventually repatriated to the UK on 14 December 1918.[5]

Following his repatriation, Sen was promoted lieutenant on 17 April 1919,[9] and was transferred to the unemployed list of the RAF on 23 May.[10] He returned to India and joined the Indian Imperial Police as an assistant superintendent (junior scale, on probation) with effect from 20 September 1921.[11] By 1925, he was serving in eastern Bengal in the Comilla District (now in Bangladesh).[11]

Sen and his brother subsequently relocated to Rangoon, Burma, where they found work. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Sen re-enlisted in the RAF, but was unable to find a means to leave Burma. He tried to walk out of the country, and is believed to have died in the attempt.[2][8]