Arthur Aaron, VC (1922-1943)

Biography

Arthur Aaron was born in Leeds and educated in the Roundhay school. He graduated in Architecture from Leeds University. The reason he has a statue is because he died in combat during the Second World War at the age of 21, whilst he was a bomber pilot with the rank of Flight Sergeant. Aaron flew for the No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF which was armed with Short Stirlings flying out of RAF Downham Market, where one sortie over Germany earned him the Distinguished Flying Medal. On his twentieth sortie, he was part of a bombing mission over Turin when his aircraft took damage, probably from a friendly bomber. Aaron was injured in the face and was near collapsing. He successfully helped navigate the plane back for 5 hours when the plane began to run very low on fuel. Luckily enough they sighted the flares from Bone airfield on the coast of Algeria where another member of the crew landed (Air Ministry, 1943). He died nine hours after being hit and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Flying Medal for his bravery, however these were later stolen (Smyth, 1963).

Context

There are calls for Aaron’s statue to be moved over to Roundhay to be closer to where he grew up (Newsroom, 2018).

His medal is now displayed in the Leeds Museum.

In 2019 a new tribute to Arthur Aaron was unveiled at Leeds City Museum, it started as part of a local campaign led by brothers Stewart and Michael Manning, the sons of Cyril Manning who went to school with Arthur Aaron. The tribute is a Maquette which is part of a display which shows the History of his life and all of his accomplishments (Morris, 2019). It was originally believed that Aaron’s aircraft was damaged by an enemy fighter, but it has been more recently believed that his aircraft was damaged by friendly fire.

The statue

Date Erected:
24th March 2001

Artist:
Graham Ibbeson (1951- ) a well-known sculptor who has sculpted over 300 life size figures including Robin Hood and Little John in Sherwood Forest.

Commissioned / funded by:
Commissioned to mark the new millennium and organised by the Leeds Civic Trust. Aaron won a public vote, beating famous Leeds people like Don Revie and Joshua Tetley (Bye, n.d.)

Format and materials:
Bronze. Five meters tall.

Location:
It is located in the middle of Eastgate Roundabout and was unveiled on the 24th of March 2001 by the last surviving member of the aircraft, Malcolm Mitchem. LS2 7JL

Description:
Due to the fact that Leeds already had a war memorial, the sculpture was designed to represent the future and freedom that Arthur Aaron guaranteed others. It is a five-metre-high bronze statue, depicting Aaron with children from the period 1950-2000 climbing up a tree with the highest releasing a dove of peace (Kitching, 2001).

Sources

• Bye, D., (n.d.) Arthur Aaron. Talking Statues Leeds. (Accessed on: 24/11/2021
• Air Ministry, (1943) Arthur Aaron VC Announcement. The London Gazette. (Accessed on: 24/11/2021)
• Kitching, L., (2001) The Arthur Aaron Statue. Leeds Civic Trust. (Accessed on: 24/11/2021)
• Morris, G., (2019) Remarkable story of Leeds war hero Arthur Aaron inspires city museum tribute. Yorkshire Evening Post. (Accessed on: 24/11/2021)
• The Newsroom, (2018) Council speech on plan to move Leeds war hero Arthur Louis Aaron VC statue. Yorkshire Evening Post.
• Smyth, J. (1963) The Story of the Victoria Cross 1856-1963. Frederick Muller Limited: London.

[Image by Tim Green via Wikimedia Commons]