A Stourbridge school has been paying tribute to a former pupil on the 30th anniversary of his death preparing to go to war on behalf of the country.

Hagley’s Kieran Duffy, who left Old Swinford Hospital School to become one of the youngest fighter pilots in the Royal Air Force, died in January 1991 on the eve of the Gulf War.

Flight Lt Duffy was 24 years old when he died. He was flying Tornado strike planes out of RAF Bruggen, in Germany, before being deployed with 14 Squadron to the Gulf.

His Tornado crashed on a training mission on January 13, 1991, and both he and his navigator, Norman Dent, were killed. Kieran is buried at Hagley Hall parish churchyard.

His former comrades are currently raising funds and awareness of those men who served as Tornado pilots, navigators and squadron engineers. The Tornado Tribute Tour of England sees veterans, Martin Wintermeyer and Mal Craghill, plan to cycle across 670 miles of the country in order to visit the grave sides of their comrades between now and Easter.

Due to Covid restrictions, the pair are encouraging supporters and participants to make virtual tribute rides and a number of 14 mile rides (in honour of 14 Squadron) were made on January 13, 2021.

At OSH, boarders who are currently staying at school made that journey out of the gym, whilst the Senior Staff Instructor of the OSH cadets, Jason Till, himself a veteran of the First Gulf War, made a similar journey.

Kieran was also remembered in an assembly at the school on January 13.

For more on the tribute tour, go to: https://www.rafa.org.uk/blog/2021/01/20/tornado-tribute-tour/

To view the school remebrance services mentioning Kieran, go to https://vimeo.com/476175952and

https://vimeo.com/499635707