A young man stepped ashore at Margate from a paddle steamer. It was the end of a day out, He was a young R.A.F. fighter pilot.

Back at his airfield, he sat down to write his report, Precisely, calmly, he described how he shot down three Nazi fighters and a dive bomber; encountered eighty enemy planes on the way home; leaped from his blazing plane; and how he delayed pulling the ripcord of his parachute because he was being fired at as he fell.

This is what he wrote:

“I was in a formation of nine aircraft patrolling Dunkirk. Towards the end of our patrol we sighted about nine Messerschmitt 109 fighters. A dogfight ensued. A Messerschmitt 109 started climbing away from me. I opened fire at 100 yards and the second burst set him on fire. I then turned right and attacked another Messerschmitt 109 firing one burst from astern. His port wing folded up. As I levelled out a Junkers 88 flew across my path. I did a Quarter attack. His starboard engine emitted black smoke and he half rolled into the sea. I was then hit underneath by a cannon shell. As I did a complete turn to the right, I saw a Messerschmitt 110 flying past. I did a beam attack on him. His starboard engine smoked and he turned on his back and fell into the sea.

EIGHTY OF ENEMY

I then turned to the right and saw a large number of enemy aircraft so I turned sharply to the left and saw at least eighty enemy aircraft proceeding in the direction of Dover. A number of them immediately turned on me, so I headed for home twisting and turning to avoid the attack. Whichever way I turned I ran into fire. My Hurricane was hit a number or times. Two shells smashed the instrument panel and three more struck underneath. The engine stopped and flames appeared over the wing roots. I was at 400 feet and tried to get out but couldn't, so I pulled the stick back from a crouching position on the seat. As the Hurricane stalled, I got over the port side and took a header off the main plane. I was being fired at, so I delayed pulling the ripcord as long as possible above the sea. I left the fighter at 800ft, the parachute worked perfectly. My life-jacket held me up well with one deep breath in it. I was picked up by a paddle steamer and landed at Margate."