Flight Lieutenant John Ottewell obituary

Dec 29, 2023

When John Ottewell was posted to RAF Witchford near the cathedral city of Ely in 1944, he and two air gunners who liked a flutter decided to name their four-engine bomber after whichever horse won that year's St Leger.

A thoroughbred called Tehran won the classic race, which was held for a few wartime years at Newmarket. Owned by Prince Aly Khan, Tehran was ridden by Gordon Richards. He won by one-and-a-half lengths, earning prize money of £5,467 (about £300,000 in today's money).

At RAF Witchford, Ottewell's aircraft, a Lancaster Mk 1, was duly named Tehran, and the figure of a racehorse was painted on the fuselage. As it turned out, his Lancaster was also a thoroughbred.

The aircraft was flown by Flight Sergeant Johnny