ex Beaufighter pilot aged 99 in Sri Lanka

I get to see issues of “Royal Air Force News” which contain a fair smattering of historical/heritage items.

In the issue dated November 20th Gp Capt Mike Peaker (retd) writes of a recent holiday in Sri Lanka. Having breakfast in their hotel in Nilaveli (north of Trincomalee) on the last morning of their holiday they saw an old man and the hotel owner told them it was his father who “flew with the RAF during the war”.

From the brief chat he was able to have and subsequent research on getting back home here’s a bit extracted from Mike Peaker’s published letter:

His name is FS Cheliah Pathy (known as ‘Pat’) and he will reach 100 years old on 21st January, 2016 – I wonder if he’s eligible for a telegram from the Queen? He had trained in Canada and then, with Navigator FS Ashton, flew Beaufighters with 217 Sqdn. based at Ratmalana (south of Colombo). They were transferred to India just before the war ended and the only operational missions were reconnaissance flights. After the war he flew with civil airlines. A photo published with the letter shows Mike Peaker with Cheliah Pathy.

Roger Smith.