Squadron Leader Edward Lister Ifould

Squadron Leader Edward Lister Ifould enlisted to the Royal Australian Air Force on 22 July 1940. He trained as a navigator and bomb-aimer in Australia and the United Kindgdom, and went on to serve as a navigator with 97 Squadron, based in the United Kingdom. With this unit, he participated in bombing operations over enemy-occupied Europe. On 28 April 1942, Squadron Leader Ifould was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in a successful daylight bombing attack on an engine factory at Augsburg, Germany. In October 1942, he was transferred to 109 Squadron, which was part of Pathfinder Force. The Pathfinder Force guided bombers to their targets in the Ruhr and Rhineland. Squadron Leader Ifould flew a large number of operations with great skill and devotion to duty. He was awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order, making him Australia’s most decorated navigator of the Second World War. In mid-1943, Ifould was a member of a Royal Air Force delegation to the United States of America. He was later posted to Headquarters, Pathfinder Force, and then became the group navigation officer of 100 (Special Duties) Group. Squadron Leader Ifould returned to Australia in mid-1944 and was discharged on 25 November 1944.