Brian Carbury Flight Lieutenant Brian John George Carbury Biography . The son of a Wellington , New Zealand veterinarian , Brian John George Carbury was raised in Auckland where he attended King ' s College from 1932 to 1934 . He joined Farmers ’ Trading Co . on leaving school , but sick of the job as a shoe salesman , he headed to the United Kingdom in 1937 to join the Royal Navy . Being told he was too old , he joined the Royal Air Force on a short service commission as an Acting Pilot Officer . June 1938 – July 1940 . Carbury joined No . 41 Squadron RAF in June 1938 , his rank was confirmed on 27 September 1938 , flying the Hawker Fury . In August 1939 he was posted to RAF Turnhouse near Edinburgh , Scotland with No . 603 ( City of Edinburgh ) Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force as training officer , flying Spitfires . As an Auxiliary Air Force squadron , No . 603 were week - end ' part - time ' airmen doing other jobs during the week . But as war approached the squadron was put onto a full - time footing and Carbury was permanently attached from the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 . During the Phoney War , No . 603 gained pilots P . O Richard Hillary — later the author of " The Last Enemy ; " and B . G . ' Stapme ' Stapleton who shot down Franz von Werra , the only German PoW to escape and return to the Third Reich . Scotland was far away from the more accessible targets in the south of England , but was in range for the Luftwaffe ' s long range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft shadowing the Royal Navy ' s Home Fleet in Northern Scotland and the North Sea . On 16 October a section of 603 was scrambled and shot down a Junkers Ju - 88 bomber into the North Sea east of Dalkeith , the first German aircraft to be shot down over British territory since 1918 . Carbury probably destroyed an Heinkel He 111 on 7 December , and claimed a third share in the destruction of another He 111 during January 1940 . Carbury was promoted to Flying Officer on 27 April 1940 . August 1940 – October 1940 . In light of RAF Fighter Command ' s dire need for pilots in the battles over southern England during August 1940 , No . 603 redeployed to RAF Hornchurch , becoming active in the Battle of Britain from 27 August 1940 . Carbury claimed his first victory on 29 August , a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter . He claimed another on the 30th , and three more on the 31st , together with two He 111 ' s - taking his total to 8 and 1 / 3 , and making him a fighter ace . Hillary was shot down on 3 September in combat with Bf 109 ' s of Jagdgeschwader 26 off Margate at 10 : 04hrs - rescued by the Margate lifeboat , he was severely burned and spent the next three years in hospital . In September Carbury claimed three more Bf 109 ' s , and after sustaining wounds to his feet during actions in September , his efforts were recognised by the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ) . The award was gazetted on 24 September 1940 : Carbury continued his toll of victories in October , as the German ' s intensified their high - level fighter - bomber attacks on London . His first two victories for the month were a Bf109 over the Thames Estuary on the 2nd , and another in southeast London on 7 October . Based at RAF Manston on the 10th , Carbury noticed three Bf 109 ' s returning to northern France — leading three Spitfires into attack , he shot the first in to the English Channel , and a second on to the beach at Dunkirk . On 14 October , he damaged a Junkers Ju 88 . The official end of the Battle of Britain came at the end of October , when Carbury was awarded a Bar to the DFC — one of fewer than five pilots given the double award for victories claimed during the period of the Battle of Britain . With destruction of 15 enemy aircraft destroyed ( and 2 victories shared destroyed ) , 2 probables and 5 damaged , Carbury was among the five top - scoring pilots in RAF Fighter Command and the top scorer against Bf 109s during the Battle of Britain along with Eric Lock . The award of the bar to his DFC was gazetted on 25 October 1940 : December 1940 onwards . No . 603 Squadron and Carbury returned to Scotland on scheduled rotation in December 1940 . On Christmas Day Carbury was scrambled to intercept a Junker Ju 88 reported off St Abb ' s Head , inflicting damage before the German aircraft turned for home . Early in 1941 Carbury was posted to be an instructor at the Central Flying School and then 58 OTU at Grangemouth , and did not fly operationally in combat again . Unfortunately later that year he was charged with fraud after being accused of passing between 9 and 17 false cheques , an offence that at the time could attract a prison sentence . At his RAF court martial , he was found guilty and on 21 October 1941 the London Gazette announced : " Flg . Off . B . J . G . CARBURY , DFC ( 40288 ) , to be dismissed the Service by sentence of General Court - Martial . 1 Oct 1941 . " Hillary on Carbury . In his book " The Last Enemy " , Richard Hillary said of Carbury : Post war . After leaving the RAF , he lived in England until his death in July 1962 . In 1949 , he along with three others , in a trial at Princes Risborough Magistrates ' Court , was found guilty of two offences relating to the illegal export of Bristol Beaufighter s to Palestine . Each man was fined a total of £100 . The defence solicitor described the four as " stooges " of a fifth man who had remained in Palestine . Death . In 1961 , Carbury was diagnosed with terminal acute leukaemia and died soon after in High Wycombe Hosptial ( then the War Memorial Hospital ) . He was later cremated at Breakspear crematorium near Ruislip . A memorial to his memory was erected in his home town of Wellington , New Zealand .