Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Newham,  Sqn Ldr Pujji was an Indian pilot who flew Hawker Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain, he also flew combat missions in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the war. He survived several crashes and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for services in Burma.

By Robert Rogers

My Dad and Operation Overlord (D-Day) - My father was John Arthur Rogers, born in Forty Acres Lane, Canning Town in May 1924. He went to Rosetta school in Custom House. He left school at 15 and got a job in a Greengrocers and Butchers shop, and two weeks after his 20th birthday, my Dad stormed the beaches of Normandy to free Europe from the Yoke of Nazi rule! He did not do this on his own, a couple of his mates came with him and a few other lads from around the world, plus some friendly Americans he met on the way. Sadly he left some of them forever on the Battlefields of Europe.