Ferdinand Maurice Felix West

Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West, (19 January 1896 – 8 July 1988) was a senior Royal Air Force officer, aviator, and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early life Born in Paddington, London, on 19 January 1896, "Freddy" West was the son of an army officer killed in 1902 during the Second Boer War. His mother Clemence was French, née de la Garde de Saignes, and moved with him to Milan, Italy. He began study of International Law at the University of Genoa in 1913, then during the 1914 vacation took up a post in a Zurich bank. His mother and nun aunt were friendly with Monsignor Achille Ratti, who later became Pope Pius XI. The young Freddie West went on at least one local climbing expedition with the future pope, and later in life attended a Vatican audience. First World War