Alan Christopher Deere Air Commodore Alan Christopher " Al " Deere , DSO , OBE , DFC & Bar ( 12 December 1917 – 21 September 1995 ) , was a New Zealand Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain and author of " Nine Lives " . Early life . Deere was born in Auckland , the third son of Terrence ( known as Joe ) and Teresa ( née Curtin ) Deere , while his father was employed in the Post Office . The family returned soon after Alan ' s birth to the family ' s home town of Westport , where Joe took up a position with the New Zealand Railways . Deere attended St Canices School in Westport before the family moved to Wanganui where the family established a home at 43 Plymouth Street , which allowed Deere to grow up in a semi - rural environment while he attended Marist Brothers ' School and Wanganui Technical College . At the age of eight he saw an aircraft fly overhead and sprinted to see it land on a nearby beach . The pilot allowed him to sit in the cockpit and Deere determined to become a pilot . After a school career dominated by success in sports , representing his school in rugby , cricket and boxing , Deere spent two years as a law clerk . Encouraged by his family doctor to follow his chosen career , Deere persuaded his mother to sign the under 21 application for entry into the Royal Air Force . He passed selection under Wing Commander R A Cochrane in April 1937 and sailed for England on the Rangitane in September , but was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure . Training . Deere began flying training on 28 October 1937 , at the De Havilland Flying School at White Waltham , the No 13 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School . On 9 January 1938 he was granted a short service commission as acting Flying Officer and started initial officer training at RAF Uxbridge . He was selected for the RAF boxing team to tour South Africa , but flight training took priority and he was posted to 6 Flight Training School on 22 January . The aircraft he was to have travelled in crashed at Bulawayo with the loss of all on board . Deere was promoted to Flying Officer on 28 October , and temporarily posted to No . 74 Squadron RAF on 20 August , before joining No . 54 Squadron RAF in September where he was joined by Colin Gray , who was to become New Zealand ' s top scoring pilot of World War II . Both squadrons operated Gloster Gladiator s , the RAF ' s last biplane fighter . World War II . The squadron remained in England until May 1940 , tasked with home defense , having converted to Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1s at the beginning of 1940 . Deere was enraptured of the Spitfire , like most pilots , describing it as " the most beautiful and easy aircraft to fly . " He was later given a chance to fly a captured Messerschmitt Bf 109 ( called a Me 109 by Allied pilots ) and found the Spitfire superior : France and Dunkirk . On 23 May 1940 , during the closing phases of the Battle of France , Deere and Pilot Officer J . Allen flew Spitfires escorting Flight Lieutenant James Leathart across the channel in a Miles Magister to rescue 74 Squadron ' s commanding officer , who had made a forced landing . In sight of Leathart and White , Deere claimed his first combat victories , shooting down two Bf 109s . Later the same day he shot down a third Bf 109 . On 24 May he added a Bf 110 over Dunkirk and on the 26th claimed two more in the same area . On 28 May Deere was shot down by a Dornier Do17 he was attacking near Dunkirk . He was knocked unconscious when making a forced landing on a Belgian beach . Rescued by a soldier , Deere made his way on foot to Oost - Dunkerke where his head injuries were dressed . He hitched a ride on a British Army lorry to Dunkirk , and ( after receiving some criticism from soldiers about the effectiveness of the RAF ' s fighter cover ) , boarded a boat to Dover from where he took a train back to London , 19 hours after taking off from Hornchurch with his squadron . Together with Leathart and Allen , Deere was awarded the DFC on 12 June 1940 . The medal was presented at Hornchurch by King George VI on 27 June . The Citation read : Battle of Britain . No . 54 Squadron took part in the defence of channel shipping against Luftwaffe attacks designed to draw out and destroy RAF Fighter Command . On 9 July Deere shot down a Bf 109 over the channel , but then collided head on with a Bf 109 of 4 Staffel Jagdgeschwader 51 flown by Oberfeldwebel Johann Illner . The propeller blades of Deere ' s spitfire " Kiwi " were bent backwards , the engine disabled , and much of the fin and rudder lost . Nevertheless , he managed to glide back to the coast near Manston where his forced landing in a paddock ended against a stone wall . The colour scheme of this aircraft ( " P9398 " , KL - B , named , like all Deere ' s aircraft , " Kiwi " ) , was accurately recorded and in consequence it has been a favourite with modellers and manufacturers . The remains of this aircraft have recently been excavated and are to be rebuilt . After Adlertag ( Eagle Day ) on 11 August he shot down a Bf 109 , two more plus a Bf 110 the next day , and on the 15th added another Bf 109 over the Channel . However he was then trapped in an unequal dogfight with Bf 109s which attempted to block his return to England . Deere made the coast but was forced to bail out at low altitude , and was admitted to Victoria Hospital with minor injuries . He discharged himself the following day . Deere was shot down again on 28 August - this time by a Spitfire - but parachuted to safety . A frustrating combat on the 30th saw him claim a probable Do 17 . The following day the Luftwaffe raided Hornchurch . Deere led a section of three Spitfires which attempted to take off during the raid . A bomb destroyed all three aircraft . Deere ' s Spitfire was blown on its back , trapping him . Pilot Officer Eric Edsall , though badly injured when his own Spitfire had been destroyed , crawled to Deere ' s aircraft and freed him . Seeing Edsall ' s injuries , Deere then carried his rescuer to the sick bay . Deere was critical of the lack of training given to new pilots : Such was the toll on men of 54 Squadron that on 3 September , before the peak of the battle , the squadron was withdrawn from 11 group and moved to the northern airfield at Catterick to rest and recover . A Bar to his DFC was awarded on 6 September 1940 . The Citation read : Squadron Leader , America . While training new replacement pilots in January 1941 , Deere collided with one of them , losing most of his tail to the Sergeant pilot ' s propellor . When bailing out , Deere was trapped against part of his aircraft , and his damaged parachute failed to fully open . Deere landed in an area of open sewerage which broke much of his fall . As a result of this incident he was rested from active flying , but promoted to Acting Squadron Leader and tasked as Operations Room Controller at Catterick . An unusual honour was having his portrait painted by official war artist Cuthbert Orde that February . On 7 May 1941 he was posted to Ayr as Flight Commander of No . 602 Squadron RAF . On 5 June he suffered engine failure over the North Sea and glided back to another forced landing on the coast , crawling out the small side door after the Spitfire flipped on to its back , destroying the canopy and temporarily trapping him . At the end of July he took over as Squadron commander of 602 Squadron , and on 1 August it moved back to Kenley . On the same day he shot down another Bf 109 . In January 1942 he was sent on a lecturing and public relations trip to America teaching American pilots fighter tactics learnt in the Battle of Britain . Biggin Hill Wing Leader . Deere returned to action on 1 May , taking command of a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron , No . 403 Squadron RCAF , at North Weald . In August he went on a course at RAF Staff College and was subsequently posted to Headquarters 13 Group on staff duties . He engineered a return to operations , somewhat unofficially , as a supernumerary with No . 611 Squadron RAF at Biggin Hill . He shot down an Fw 190 soon after , but wrote of his great respect for the type and its pilots . He was given command of the Kenley fighter wing , but this was changed at the last minute to keep him as Wing Leader at Biggin Hill . While there , Deere was awarded the DSO , the citation reading : " This officer has displayed exceptional qualities of skill , which have played a large part in the successes of formations he has led . His fearlessness , tenacity and unswerving devotion to duty have inspired all with whom he has flown . Wing Commander Deere has destroyed 18 enemy aircraft . " London Gazette – 4 June 1943 . Deere led 121 sorties during his six months as Wing Leader , and added another four claims to his total . Later war experiences . On 15 September 1943 he went to Sutton Bridge to command the Fighter Wing of the Central Gunnery School . He received a staff job in March 1944 at 11 Group but at the request of General Valin , abandoned this to take commanded of the Free French fighter wing , leading it over the beaches on D - Day , and subsequently in its pilots ' return to France . When the fighter wing moved further into Europe , he was posted to HQ 84 Group Control Centre as Wing Commander Plans until July 1945 when he became Station Commander at Biggin Hill . He was awarded the OBE on 1 June 1945 . Post - war career . At the end of the war Deere was given command of the Polish P - 51 Mustang Wing at Andrews Field , Essex , presiding over its disbandment in October , before becoming Commanding Officer at Duxford . Deere received a permanent commission in August 1945 , and was promoted to Squadron Leader on 26 March 1946 . In 1947 he was on the staff of AHQ Malta , subsequently joining the headquarters of 61 group before becoming Operations Officer , North - Eastern Sector , RAF Linton - on - Ouse . Alan Deere was promoted to Wing Commander on 1 July 1951 , and became Commanding Officer of RAF North Weald the following year . In 1955 he was on the directing staff of the RAF Staff College . He was promoted to Group Captain on 1 January 1958 . He was Aide - de - camp to the Queen in 1962 , and was appointed Assistant Commandant of the RAF College at RAF Cranwell in 1963 . Promoted to Air Commodore on 1 July 1964 , Deere took command of ( East Anglian ) Sector . On 30 January 1965 he was given the signal honour of leading fellow Battle of Britain fighter pilots in the main funeral cortege for Winston Churchill . In 1966 he commanded No . 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton . He was consulted for the movie " Battle of Britain " . Alan Deere retired from the Royal Air Force on 12 December 1967 . He then took up the civilian position of Director of RAF Rugby , which subsequently was expanded to Director RAF Sport . During this period he was Chairman of the RAF Rugby Board and a member of the Combined Services Rugby Team selection panel . A team selected while he was on the panel played the New Zealand All Blacks at Twickenham . He eventually retired to the village of Wendover , near Halton . He died on 21 September 1995 aged 77 years from cancer , a disease which also claimed his grandfather and four of his brothers . His ashes were scattered over the River Thames from a Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight . Family . Deere married Joan Fenton on 18 September 1945 . They had two children , Jaqueline ( born July 1946 ) and John . Deere was the third of six sons , Pat , Brian , Leslie ( known as Jimmy ) , Kevin and Des . Four of his brothers served in the armed forces during the Second World War . Brian Deere ' s son , Brenden Deere between 2001 and 2009 restored back to flying status Spitfire Mark IX PV270 . This aircraft is painted in his uncle ' s markings when he was Wing Commander Flying at Biggin Hill in June 1943 .