Art Donahue Flight Lieutenant Arthur Gerald " Art " Donahue DFC ( 29 January 1913 – 11 September 1942 ) was an American fighter pilot and ace who volunteered to fly for the British Royal Air Force in World War II . He was one of 11 American pilots who flew with RAF Fighter Command between 10 July and 31 October 1940 , thereby qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp to the 1939 – 45 campaign star . He was killed in action in September 1942 . Early life . Donahue was born to Frank and Ada Donahue on 29 January 1913 and was raised on a dairy farm near St . Charles , Minnesota . As a teenager , he learned to fly at Conrad Flying Service , operated by Max Conrad , an aviator known as the " Flying Grandfather " who set numerous world records for distance and endurance flying . After learning how to fly and becoming Minnesota ' s youngest commercially certificated pilot at the age of 19 , Donahue worked for Conrad helping to run the flight school until he left to join the Royal Air Force . Donahue had heard that pilots were being recruited in Canada , so he traveled there , claimed to be Canadian , and was accepted . Royal Air Force service . After training with No . 7 Operational Training Unit , he was assigned to No . 64 Squadron at RAF Kenley on 3 August 1940 . Two days later , he saw combat against Messerschmitt Bf 109 s off the French coast , and suffered serious damage to his aircraft , forcing him to land at RAF Hawkinge . Donahue thus became one of ten Americans to fly for the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940 . A week later , on 12 August , he was wounded in combat over England ' s south coast in his Supermarine Spitfire Mk . I . He was forced to bail out of his burning aircraft , and suffered burns and leg injuries . On 29 September 1940 , he was reassigned to No . 71 Squadron , one of three Eagle Squadrons , RAF units composed of American pilots , but did not see combat with that unit . Because of the lack of action , he requested to be reassigned to No . 64 Squadron , arriving back there on 23 October . In February 1941 , Donahue served with No . 91 Squadron , although in March he went on leave back to the USA . In October 1941 he was posted to No . 258 Squadron in the Far East , and participated in the Battle of Singapore , also seeing action over Sumatra in February 1942 , where he was wounded by ground fire . After returning to England in mid - 1942 , he rejoined No 91 Squadron as a flight commander . He became the first American in RAF history to lead an all - English squadron . During his various combat engagements , he became an ace by shooting down five enemy aircraft . For his efforts , he was awarded four medals , including the UK ' s Distinguished Flying Cross on 27 March 1942 . Death . Flight Lieutenant Donahue was killed in action on 11 September 1942 , while a member of No . 91 Squadron . Attempting to intercept a Ju 88 his plane was hit by return fire and ditched in the English Channel . Donahue once wrote in a letter to his parents , " My life may not be long , but it will be wide . " He is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede in Surrey , England . Donahue wrote two books , " Tally - Ho ! Yankee in a Spitfire " and " Last Flight from Singapore " about his service in the RAF .