Donald Harvin Cochrane, wartime hero (1926 – 2010) Cochrane was the youngest person ever to be awarded the Distinguished Flyng Medal. Though he was born in Palmers Green in 1926, his family soon after moved to Barnet, where he lived much of his life. Cochrane joined the RAF at 15, having lied about his age. While flying over Frankfurt, the plane in which Cochrane was flying came under enemy attack. Cochrane put out a fire with his hands after it was attacked over Frankfurt, saving the lives of three gunners, and gave his oxygen to two crew mates with no regard for his own safety. http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/5057031.Youngest_war_hero_to_get_Distinguished_Flying_Medal_has_died/
Alfred Cecil Herring (1888 to 1966) was born in Tottenham but was living at 143 Fox Lane when he joined the army. In 1918 Lieutenant Herring recaptured Montaigne Bridge in France, plus 20 prisoners and 6 machine guns, holding up against counter attacks for 11 hours, largely because of his ability to keep up his men’s morale. Awarded the Victoria cross for his gallantry, after the war he became an accountant. The Wetherspoons pub in Green Lanes is named after him.
Lt Commander Dicky Kendall wartime hero and conservationist (1923 -2006) Kendall was born in Palmers Green in 1923, the son of a master draper. In 1942 he placed a mine under the German Battleship Tirpitz in the Kaa Fjord in Norway, inflicting serious damage, before being captured by the same boat and held as a prisoner of war for 18 months. He received a DSO for his actions. After the war, Kendall emigrated to Canada where he worked in forestry, and then the national parks, becoming superintendent of McKenzie Forest. Friends say he rarely talked of his wartime exploits. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1515120/Lieutenant-Commander-Dicky-Kendall.html