Andrew Mamedoff

{{Infobox military person

|name=Andrew B Mamedoff

|birth_date= {{birth date|df=yes|1912|8|12}}

|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1941|10|8|1912|8|12}}

|death_place= near Maughold, Isle of Man, England

|placeofburial= Brookwood Military Cemetery

|placeofburial_label= Place of burial

|image=Three American pilots of No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron RAF, Pilot Officers A Mamedoff, V C 'Shorty' Keough and G Tobin, show off their new squadron badge at Church Fenton, Yorkshire, October 1940. CH1442.jpg

|caption=Andrew Mamedoff (right) with Vernon Keough and Eugene Tobin, Church Fenton, Yorkshire, October 1940

|nickname=Andy

|allegiance= {{flag|France}}
{{flag|United Kingdom}}

|branch= {{air force|United Kingdom}}

|serviceyears=1940–1941

|rank=Flight lieutenant

|servicenumber= 81621

|commands=

|unit=No. 609 Squadron RAF
No. 71 Squadron RAF
No. 133 Squadron RAF

|battles= World War II

European air campaign
Battle of Britain {{KIA}}

|awards=

|laterwork=

}}

Flight lieutenant Andrew Beck Mamedoff (12 August 1912{{spaced ndash}}8 October 1941), known as Andy, was an American pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain in World War II. He was one of 11 American pilots{{Cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/BattleofBritainRollofHonour.cfm |title=Battle of Britain – Roll of Honour |access-date=6 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517022613/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/BattleofBritainRollofHonour.cfm |archive-date=17 May 2015 |url-status=dead }} who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940, thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939–45 campaign star.

Biography

He was born in Warsaw, Russian Empire, in 1911 to Lev Mamedoff and Natalia Mamedoff (née Vonsiatsky). His father was an officer in the Special Corps of Gendarmes of the Russian Empire stationed in Poland,{{cite web |title=Andrew Beck Mamedoff | American Air Museum in Britain |url=https://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/240106}} while his uncle was Anastasy Vonsiatsky, a Russian fascist politician.

Mamedoff's family fled Russia after the Civil War, and lived in Europe for a short time. After Vonsiatsky had settled in Thompson, Connecticut, he convinced his wife to buy a neighboring farm for his sister's family.{{cite web|url=http://www.thompsonhistorical.org/Newsletters/2004_Fall.pdf|access-date=16 April 2023|website=The Thompson Historical Society Newsletter |title=Andrew Mamedoff & WWII|date=Fall 2004|page=5}}{{Cite web|url=http://quinnbrookfarm.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-russian-bear.html|title = The Russian Bear}}{{Cite web|url=http://quinnbrookfarm.blogspot.com/2017/04/andy-mamedoff.html|title = Andy Mamedoff}}

In Thompson, Mamedoff attended Tourtellotte Memorial High School.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/ThompsonProud/photos/a.287698328258080/287698601591386/|title=Thompson Proud - Thompson Proud added a new photo.|website=www.facebook.com|accessdate=16 April 2023}} He later enrolled in Bryant University.{{Cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/mamedoff_war/|title=Mamedoff, Andrew "Andy" | Bryant College Goes to War | Bryant University|website=digitalcommons.bryant.edu|accessdate=16 April 2023}}

He had learned to fly in the US and even had his own plane with which he performed at airshows.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbm.org.uk/Mamedoff.htm |title=Battle of Britain London Monument - P/O a MAMEDOFF |accessdate=8 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530154045/http://www.bbm.org.uk/Mamedoff.htm |archivedate=30 May 2009 }} He and Eugene Tobin had been flying friends at Mines Field in California before the war.Alex Kershaw, World War II Magazine Volume 25, No.4 November/December 2010, pp.36 He was attempting to set up charter services in Miami immediately prior to the war. Mamedoff initially came to Europe to fight on the side of Finland against the Soviet Union, but hostilities had ceased before he arrived.{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk/pilots/To-pilots.html|title=Ga-pilots|website=www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk|accessdate=16 April 2023}}

In 1941 Mamedoff married an English woman, Alys Laird "Penny" Mamedoff (née Crockatt {{Cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2667710|title = Casualty Details | CWGC}}) at Epping. He became the first American to take a war bride during World War II.{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.ws/rafeaglesquadron/wedding.html|title = Wedding}}

Second World War

Mamedoff and his friends and fellow Americans Eugene Tobin and Vernon Keogh were among 32 pilots recruited by American soldier of fortune Charles Sweeny to join the French Air Force.{{cite book |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA264356.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028090037/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA264356.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=28 October 2021 |title=Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons |last=Caine |first=Philip D. |publisher=National Defense University Press |page=69}} However, by the time they reached France, Germany had already invaded the country. The trio made their way to England and joined the Royal Air Force in 1940. (Of the rest of Sweeny's recruits, four were killed, 11 were taken prisoner, and two others reached England.{{cite web |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/28/2001330139/-1/-1/0/AFD-100928-005.pdf |title=First in the Air: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II |last=Kan |first=Kenneth C. |year=2007 |publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program}})

After converting to the Spitfire, Mamedoff was posted to RAF Middle Wallop and joined No. 609 Squadron on 8 August 1940. He was member of A Flight. On 24 August he took off at 16.10 as tail-end charlie. He was severely shot up by Me 109 and crashed at Tapnell Farm, near Freshwater flying in L1082.

He was posted to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire on 18 September 1940 and was a founding member of the No. 71 'Eagle' Squadron along with Art Donahue, Eugene Tobin and Vernon Keogh.{{Cite web |url=http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/eagles/eagle1.htm |title=Ww Ii Ace Stories |access-date=4 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207123909/http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/eagles/eagle1.htm |archive-date=7 February 2009 |url-status=dead }} He was posted to RAF Duxford in August 1941 to another "Eagle Squadron", No. 133 Squadron as a flight commander.

=Death=

On 8 October 1941, Mamedoff was flying with 133 Squadron on a standard transit flight from Fowlmere Airfield to RAF Eglinton in Northern Ireland in his Hurricane Z3781. The wreckage of his plane was found near Maughold on the Isle of Man and it is thought that he crashed due to poor weather conditions. His body was later recovered for burial at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey. He has been described as possibly the first Jewish American to have been killed in World War II.Naylor, Donita. “British Parliament honors Bryant College graduate who was RAF pilot during World War II.” Providence Journal. 30 October 2013.

2013 Honored by British Members of Parliament

In 2013, three Members of the British Parliament visited Bryant University to honor Mamedoff's memory. They presented the University President, Ronald K. Matchtley, with a plaque which says, in part, that Mamedoff's "participation in the Battle of Britain in 1940 helped to prevent the spread of Fascism throughout the World." In his remarks on accepting the plaque, President Matchtley said that Mamedoff:

. . . liked fast cars and was a daredevil, even as a student, adding that he was “expelled from Bryant on several occasions.” Rather than displaying the kind of character the college expected, Machtley said, “He was a character.” Naylor, Donita. "British Parliament honors Bryant College graduate who was RAF pilot during World War II." Providence Journal. October 30, 2013.