Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 224. Chapters: Robin Olds, Curtis LeMay, Hudson Fysh, Gabby Gabreski, George Jones (RAAF officer), Henry Wrigley, James Jabara, Billy Bishop, Brian Eaton, John Lloyd Waddy, Adrian Cole (RAAF officer), Valston Hancock, George Beurling, James Rowland (RAAF officer), Peter Jeffrey (RAAF officer), Ian Dougald McLachlan, William Brill, William Stephenson, John Francis Jackson, Jerry Pentland, John Lerew, Keith Park, John Balmer, Lawrence Wackett, William Anderson (RAAF officer), Raymond Collishaw, Kym Bonython, Cedric Howell, Hughie Edwards, Thomas Baker (aviator), Wilfred Arthur, Charles Read (RAAF officer), George Scratchley Brown, Robert T. Smith, Hippolyte De La Rue, Leonard Cheshire, Gordon Steege, Keith Hampshire (aviator), Peter Raw, Arthur Coningham (RAF officer), Peter Turnbull (RAAF officer), Leslie Graham, Elwyn King, Arthur William Murphy, Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy, Basil Embry, Peter Isaacson, Louis Strange, Roy Phillipps, Nigel Cullen, Wop May, Michael Beetham, Charles Crombie, Clayton Bissell, Ted Swales, Les Clisby, Harry George Smart, Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, Frederick Higginson, Donald Hardman, Quintin Brand, Frank A. Armstrong, Garfield Finlay, Gerald Stapleton, Hugh Kennard, Derrick Bailey, Leonard Birchall, Neil Cameron, Baron Cameron of Balhousie, Alec Cunningham-Reid, John Fraser Drummond, Eric Hill (cricketer), James Robb (RAF officer), Harold Leslie Edwards, Peter Squire, Denis Spotswood, FrantiSek Fajtl, Andrew Humphrey, George Martin Lees, Bud Mahurin, Robert E. Galer, Gwilym Hugh Lewis, Walter G. R. Hinchliffe, David Lord, Russell Foskett. Excerpt: Robin Olds (July 14, 1922 - June 14, 2007) was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was a "triple ace", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general. The son of regular Army Maj. Gen. Robert Olds, educated at West Point, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot. He remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Rising to command of two fighter wings, Olds is regarded among aviation historians and his peers as the best wing commander of the Vietnam War, both for his air-fighting skills and his reputation as a combat leader. Olds was promoted to brigadier general after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy and as an official in the Air Force Inspector General's Office. His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking. Olds had a highly publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All American for his play as a lineman in American football. Olds expressed his philosophy regarding fighter pilots in the quote: "There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks." Olds was born in Honolulu into an Army family and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia, where ...