Regiment: R.A.F..
Died: 08 April 1945 aged 40 in England. Died in hospital.
Cemetery: Bristol (Canford) Cemetery Spec. Memorial.
Son of Major Charles Chetwode Hardy, and of Edith Georgina Hardy (nee Potter), 21 Armour Hill, Tilehurst, Nr Reading.
Army VI. School Prefect.
Cranwell.
Husband of H. Margaret Hardy, of Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire.
A.D.C. to H.M. King George VI from 1st October 1944.
The following appreciation is taken from The Times:— To those who knew Air Commodore S. H. Hardy, C.B.E., who was appointed Commandant of the Officers' Advanced Training School at Cranwell in March, 1944, the news of his untimely death at the Royal Air Force Hospital, Rauceby, on 9 April, after an illness lasting several weeks, will have come as a great shock.
During his 21 years' service Stephen Hardy, with his huge stature, became well known in the service, and wherever he went his pleasant personality endeared him to all. He had great faith in the future of the Royal Air Force, and his high ideals and personal example were always an inspiration to those who served with him.
His good work during his last year at Cranwell had already made itself felt, and it came as no surprise to those who knew him when his ability and personal integrity were recognized by his appointment in October, 1944, as an additional Air Aide-de- Camp to the King.
Stephen Hardy never spared himself where duty was concerned. It is true to say that but for his determination to carry on his important work at Cranwell, in spite of the fact that he knew he was a sick man, he might well have been alive to-day. Courteous, sincere, and charming, Stephen Hardy was a fine friend and an able officer whom the service could ill afford to lose at this time. His early death while still in his prime is a great loss to the Royal Air Force and to the many friends that he leaves behind.