Alfred Ernest Dryden was the son of Joseph (1874-1930) and Ellen (nee Doole) (1889-1968) Dryden and was born in Inglewood on 17 October 1919. He had eight brothers and sisters. He was educated at Egmont Village School, where he was the Dux in 1931 and spent two years at New Plymouth Boy's High School and then left to work, first as a farmhand in Egmont Village and then at the Mangorei Butter Factory and the Pihama Dairy factory.
He joined the RNZAF in June 1941 and began his training in Levin, Bell Block and Blenheim.
He was sent to the United Kingdom in December 1941 where he received training to become a flying instructor in Perth, Scotland. He was then employed as a flying instructor at Wolverhampton, Carlisle and several other training schools in the UK.
In February 1944 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and began his own training on Spitfire aircraft before being sent to join No 249 Squadron in Italy.
On 22 September 1944, aged 24, while flying a Mustang on a strafing sweep he failed to return to base. His body was never recovered. His name is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, Malta.
Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph
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