Pilot Officer Cecil Henry Hight (6 September 1917 to 15 August 1940) was a New Zealand born fighter pilot who served with the Royal Air Force during World War 2. He was killed in action during the Battle of Britain.
He grew up in Taranaki, New Zealand where at the age of 20 he learnt to fly. In 1938 he worked his passage to England to join the Royal Air Force but failed to meet the entry requirements. Undeterred he took a cramming course in Maths and when he reapplied, he was accepted. After completing his training on 6 November 1939, he joined 234 Squadron at RAF Leconfield in Yorkshire. During the Battle of Britain, he flew Spitfires from RAF Middle Wallop.
During a massive raid by the Germans on 15 August 1940 Pilot Hight's Spitfire was hit over Bournemouth. In seems he flew his plane away from the town and towards Meyrick Park. He bailed out just before the plane came down but his parachute did not open and he was dead when he was found. He was only 22 years old.
Pilot Hight is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves area in Bournemouth East Cemetery.
There are a couple of memorials in Bournemouth to Pilot Hight. Bournemouth Council named a road in West Howe Pilot Hight Road and in 2010 two new road signs had spitfires added on to them.
A new memorial stone was unveiled on 15 August 2015 at the junction of Walsford Road, Benellen Avenue and Leven Avenue, Bournemouth by the Mayor. Pilot Officer Hight died close to this site.
To qualify for this virtual the following is required:-
1) With your back to the memorial look across the road and you will see a finger post. Email us with the distance to Pugs Hole.
2) Add a picture to your log of you or your GPS at the memorial
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Just-Us-Two know first at justustwo1013@gmail.com so they can keep track of the memorial numbers and names to avoid any duplication.
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Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.