page_title: Alan Deere
hierarchical_section_title: Alan Deere
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Wing Commander Alan Christopher 'Al' Deere, RAF, July 1944. Head and shoulders portrait of Wing Commander A C Deere. Photograph taken at the Air Ministry Studios, London.
context_page_description: Air Commodore Alan Christopher "Al" Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar was a New Zealand fighter ace with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was also notable for the number of near death experiences he had during the course of the war. This led to his published autobiography being titled Nine Lives.
  Born in Westport, New Zealand in 1917, Deere joined the RAF in January 1938. Posted to No. 54 Squadron, he flew Supermarine Spitfires during the Battle of France and became a fighter ace by the end of May 1940. For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross the following month. He participated in the subsequent Battle of Britain, during which he shot down several more enemy aircraft as well as having his own Spitfire destroyed from under him on more than one occasion. His continued accomplishments earned him a bar to his DFC in September 1940. He was soon promoted to squadron leader, and commanded No. 403 Squadron RCAF for several months in 1942. He led a fighter wing from Biggin Hill for six months in 1943 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
context_section_description: Air Commodore Alan Christopher "Al" Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar (12 December 1917 – 21 September 1995) was a New Zealand fighter ace with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was also notable for the number of near death experiences he had during the course of the war. This led to his published autobiography being titled Nine Lives.
  Born in Westport, New Zealand in 1917, Deere joined the RAF in January 1938. Posted to No. 54 Squadron, he flew Supermarine Spitfires during the Battle of France and became a fighter ace by the end of May 1940. For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) the following month. He participated in the subsequent Battle of Britain, during which he shot down several more enemy aircraft as well as having his own Spitfire destroyed from under him on more than one occasion. His continued accomplishments earned him a bar to his DFC in September 1940. He was soon promoted to squadron leader, and commanded No. 403 Squadron RCAF for several months in 1942. He led a fighter wing from Biggin Hill for six months in 1943 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. By the end of the war, he was credited with the destruction of 22 enemy aircraft, ranking him the second-highest scoring New Zealand fighter ace. However recent scholarship has seen this total revised to 17 enemy aircraft. 
  Deere remained in the RAF during the postwar period, commanding a number of stations and training establishments. He also wrote his autobiography which was published in 1959. He left military service in 1967, having achieved the rank of air commodore, but continued to live in the United Kingdom. As a civilian, he continued to work with the RAF as its sporting director until his retirement in 1977. As a well known fighter ace of the Second World War, he was sought after by media and historians for commentary and interviews on air warfare. He died of cancer in 1995.
caption: Alan Deere, July 1944
exif: {}