John Plagis Wing Commander Ioannis Agorastos " John " Plagis , DSO , DFC and Bar ( 1919 – 1974 ) was a Southern Rhodesian flying ace in the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) during the Second World War ( 1939 – 45 ) , most noted for his part in the defence of Malta during 1942 . The son of Greek immigrants , he was the war ' s top - scoring Southern Rhodesian ace , and the highest - scoring ace of Greek origin , with 16 confirmed aerial victories , including 11 over Malta . He held a number of commands towards the end of the war and finished it as Southern Rhodesia ' s most decorated serviceman , having won the Distinguished Service Order and other medals . Initially turned down by Rhodesian recruiters as he was legally a foreign national , Plagis was accepted by the RAF , officially as a Greek , after Greece joined the Allies in late 1940 . Following spells with No . 65 Squadron and No . 266 ( Rhodesia ) Squadron , he flew to Malta in March 1942 as part of Operation " Spotter " and joined No . 249 ( Gold Coast ) Squadron . Flying Spitfire Mk Vs , Plagis was part of the multinational group of Allied pilots that successfully defended the strategically important island against numerically superior Axis forces over the next few months . Flying with No . 185 Squadron from early June , he was withdrawn to England in early July . After about a year as an instructor in the UK , Plagis returned to action in September 1943 as commander of No . 64 Squadron , flying Spitfire Mk VCs over northern France . He took command of No . 126 ( Persian Gulf ) Squadron in June 1944 , and led many attacks on German positions during the invasion of France and the campaign that followed ; he was shot down over Arnhem during Operation " Market Garden " , but only lightly wounded . After converting to flying Mustang IIIs , he commanded a wing based at RAF Bentwaters that supported bombing missions . He finished the war with the rank of squadron leader and remained with the RAF afterwards , commanding No . 266 ( Rhodesia ) Squadron during the occupation of Germany . Plagis retired from the RAF as a wing commander in 1948 and returned to Southern Rhodesia , where the capital city , Salisbury , had honoured his wartime contributions by naming a street in its northern Alexandra Park neighbourhood after him ; he promptly received full citizenship . He set up home at 1 John Plagis Avenue , opened a bottle store bearing his name , and was a director of a number of companies , including Central African Airways in the 1960s . He contested the Salisbury City constitutiency in the 1962 general election , running for the Rhodesian Front , but failed to win . He died in 1974 , reportedly by suicide . Early life and education . John Plagis was born on 10 March 1919 in Gadzema , a mining village near Hartley , about south - west of the Southern Rhodesian capital Salisbury . His parents , Agorastos and Helen Plagis , were Greek immigrants from the island of Lemnos ; he had five siblings . Christened with the Greek name Ioannis Agorastos , Plagis used the English form of Ioannis , John , from childhood , and attended Prince Edward School in Salisbury . Second World War . Southern Rhodesia and England . Having been interested in aviation since he was a boy , Plagis volunteered for the Southern Rhodesian Air Force ( SRAF ) soon after the outbreak of war in September 1939 , but was turned down as despite having lived in Rhodesia all his life , he lacked British citizenship , being the son of foreign nationals . After Italy invaded Greece in late October 1940 , bringing the Greeks into the war on the Allied side , Plagis applied again — this time to join the Royal Air Force , which had absorbed the SRAF in April 1940 — and was accepted . Training first in Southern Rhodesia , then England , Plagis passed out with the rank of flight sergeant in June 1941 with above - average ratings in all of his flying assessments . Though he was officially in the RAF as a Greek , Plagis considered himself a Rhodesian flyer and wore shoulder flashes on his uniform denoting him as such . He named each aircraft he piloted during the war after his sister Kay , and painted that name on the side of each cockpit . After briefly flying Spitfires with No . 65 Squadron RAF , Plagis joined No . 266 ( Rhodesia ) Squadron , an almost all - Rhodesian Spitfire unit , on 19 July 1941 . After serving in the UK for about half a year ( during which he was commissioned as a pilot officer ) , he was posted to the Mediterranean theatre in January 1942 . Malta . Plagis ' s first major operation was Operation " Spotter " , the first of many British endeavours to reinforce the besieged island of Malta , of vital strategic importance , in the face of German and Italian assaults during the Battle of the Mediterranean . With the defence of Malta looking increasingly precarious at this time , " Spotter " was a plan to strengthen the British garrison there with 16 new Spitfire Mk Vs , which would be carried part of the way from Gibraltar on the aircraft carrier HMS " Eagle " , escorted by the battleship HMS " Malaya " , then flown to Malta ; the pilots would then become part of the severely depleted No . 249 ( Gold Coast ) Squadron . The team of pilots comprised eight British airmen , four Australians , two New Zealanders and two Southern Rhodesians — Plagis and his close friend Pilot Officer Doug Leggo . The operation , carried out on 7 March 1942 , was largely successful , with 15 of the 16 Spitfires reaching Malta ; the 16th aircraft was found to be faulty just before take - off time , so it was left behind along with its pilot , Australian Flight Sergeant Jack Yarro . Plagis and Leggo arrived to find a third Rhodesian , Flight Officer George " Buck " Buchanan , already attached to the squadron . A further delivery of 16 Spitfires , Operation " Picket I " , was attempted on 21 March , but this was less successful ; only nine of the planes arrived . Thirteen of these Spitfire reinforcement operations were ultimately launched between March and October 1942 , playing a key role in the siege . The " Luftwaffe " and the Italian " Regia Aeronautica " meanwhile attempted to bomb Malta into submission , turning the airfields into " a wilderness of craters , the docks . . . a shambles , Valletta a mass of broken limestone . . . " The " Luftwaffe " launched a major attack against key Maltese airfields at dawn on 20 March . Leggo , who had not slept for over 24 hours , returned to the airfield in the early hours having spent the night with a girl , drinking . With the German planes approaching he was ordered to prepare to fly . Plagis attempted to stop his friend from going , but Leggo insisted on flying , and took off at 08 : 05 as part of a group of four Spitfires and 12 Hurricanes aiming to intercept a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109 s . He was soon seen to be flying poorly . A German pilot noticed this and attacked Leggo from close range , seriously damaging his aircraft and forcing him to bale out . Another Bf 109 then swooped and either fired at Leggo or collapsed his parachute with its slipstream , causing him to fall to his death . When Plagis learned what had happened , he was inconsolable , holding himself responsible . In his journal , he vowed to " shoot down ten for Doug — I will too , if it takes me a lifetime " . Plagis shot down his first enemy aircraft on 25 March , and on 1 April won four more aerial victories in a single afternoon , thereby becoming the Siege of Malta ' s first Spitfire ace . His downing of four enemies in a few hours won him much praise from superiors and reporters , and contributed to his growing reputation as an aggressive but skilful combat pilot . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ) on 1 May 1942 , the citation noting that he had " destroyed 4 and probably destroyed a further 3 hostile aircraft " . " With complete indifference to odds against him , he presses home his attacks with skill and courage , " it continued — " He has set an outstanding example . " On 11 May , Plagis attempted to down an Italian Reggiane Re . 2001 by flying straight at it to ram it ; taking erratic evasive manouevres , the Italian aircraft stalled and almost crashed into the sea . Thinking he had downed the enemy , Plagis claimed afterwards to have won an aerial victory without firing a shot , but the Italian flight actually reported no losses . Plagis ' s Spitfire was lightly hit during this engagement , and the Rhodesian had some luck returning safely ; he landed with only three gallons ( 14 litres ) of fuel left . On 16 May , Plagis and an English ace , Pilot Officer Peter Nash , together destroyed a Bf 109 for a shared kill that was No . 249 Squadron ' s 100th aerial victory over Malta . Amid the continuing siege , the need for a major supply convoy to Malta was becoming urgent ; the colonial Governor Lord Gort warned Britain in early June that if no supplies came by August , he would have to surrender to prevent a famine . Plagis was promoted in the field to flight lieutenant on 4 June 1942 and transferred to No . 185 Squadron to command " B " Flight . He shot down two Re . 2001s two days later to bring his kill count to ten ( thereby fulfilling his pledge following Leggo ' s death ) , and destroyed a Bf 109 on 7 June . A month later , he received a Bar to his DFC , having been adjudged to have shown " exceptional skill and gallantry in combat . . . Undeterred by superior numbers of attacking aircraft , he presses home his attacks with great determination . " Plagis left Malta when his tour expired on 7 July 1942 , flying first to Gibraltar , then the UK . The British finally got vital supplies to Malta on 15 August with Operation " Pedestal " ( known in Malta as the " Santa Marija Convoy " ) , a great strategic success for the Allies that is often cited by naval historians as a turning point in the siege and the whole war . England , Normandy and the Netherlands . On arriving in England , Plagis was found to be suffering from malnutrition , scabies and physical and mental fatigue . He briefly convalesced in a nursing home , then spent about a year as an instructor in England . During this time he was officially promoted to flying officer on 1 October 1942 . He returned to action in September 1943 , when he was appointed commanding officer of No . 64 Squadron , then flying Spitfire Mk VCs over northern France from RAF Coltishall in Norfolk . Plagis downed a Bf 109 over France on 24 September 1943 , then a Focke - Wulf Fw 190 on 23 November , and formally received the rank of flight lieutenant on 8 December 1943 . At the start of June 1944 , Plagis was put in command of No . 126 ( Persian Gulf ) Squadron , a unit flying Spitfire Mk IXs that had been recently moved from Malta to assist in the invasion of Normandy . Six of the squadron ' s planes had been purchased by the Persian Gulf Spitfire Fund , and duly named after the donating sheikdoms ; Plagis ' s aircraft , which he chose because of the large letter " K " on its tail ( echoing his sister ' s name ) , had " Muscat " painted in English and Arabic script on its side . He added to this his usual personal decorations . Leading No . 126 Squadron on raids into Normandy during the Allied invasion , Plagis also took part in many of the attacks on German positions in northern France and the Low Countries that followed over the next few months . He was shot down over Arnhem in the Netherlands during Operation " Market Garden " in September 1944 , but suffered only minor injuries and quickly returned to action . He received the Distinguished Service Order on 3 November for having " participated in very many sorties during which much damage has been inflicted on . . . [ German ] shipping , radio stations , oil storage tanks , power plants and other installations " . The citation particularly stressed an engagement in which a small group of Allied fighters led by Plagis had taken on a far superior force of enemy aircraft and shot down five of them , Plagis himself downing two . Plagis was called " a brave and resourceful leader whose example has proved a rare source of inspiration " . Plagis converted to Mustang IIIs along with the rest of his squadron at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk during December 1944 and January 1945 , and spent the rest of the war flying bomber escort missions at the head of Bentwaters Wing , which included No . 126 Squadron . Leading the wing despite being two ranks below wing commander , he was officially promoted to squadron leader on 28 March , and retained this rank when Germany surrendered on 7 May 1945 , ending the war in Europe . Plagis ended the war with a tally of 16 enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed ( including two shared victories counted as half a kill each ) , two shared probably destroyed , six damaged and one shared damaged . This made him Southern Rhodesia ' s highest scoring ace of the war , as well as the top - scoring ace of Greek origin . He had furthermore received more decorations during the hostilities than any other Southern Rhodesian serviceman . Post - war service and later life . Plagis stayed with the RAF following the war and commanded No . 266 ( Rhodesia ) Squadron during the occupation of Germany . He was awarded the Airman ' s Cross by the government of the Netherlands in October 1946 . In 1948 he retired ( with the rank of wing commander ) and returned home to Rhodesia , where he was promptly given full citizenship . A street in the north Salisbury suburb of Alexandra Park had been named after Plagis in recognition of his wartime contributions , and the Rhodesian ace soon moved into the house at the end of the road , 1 John Plagis Avenue . Widely regarded as the colony ' s finest flyer of the war ( as well as the most famous ) , he married in 1954 and had three sons and a daughter . Plagis set up and ran a bottle store bearing his name in Salisbury , and was involved in a number of businesses during the next three decades , serving as a director on several company boards , perhaps most prominently that of Central African Airways from 1963 to 1968 . He joined the Rhodesian Front on its formation in 1962 , and ran for it in Salisbury City in that year ' s general election , losing to the United Federal Party ' s John Roger Nicholson by 631 votes to 501 . According to a report published by the Zimbabwe African National Union in 1969 , Plagis was by then working in the office of the Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith ( himself a former Spitfire pilot ) , with responsibility for the premier ' s written correspondence . In later life , Plagis became a close friend of the British ace Douglas Bader , a prominent supporter of Rhodesia ' s stand regarding its Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965 who often associated with him and Smith . Plagis died in 1974 , aged 54 or 55 ; according to Lauren St John , an author from Gadzema , he had committed suicide , having never truly readjusted to civilian life .