Eric Lock Eric Stanley Lock ( 19 April 1919 – 3 August 1941 ) DSO , DFC and Bar was a British Royal Air Force ( RAF ) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War . Born in Shrewsbury in 1919 Lock had his first experience of flying as a teenager . In the late 1930s with war a possibility and the likely event of him being called to arms , Lock decided that he would prefer to fight as an airman . He joined the RAF in 1939 . He completed his training in 1940 and was posted to No . 41 Squadron RAF in time for the Battle of Britain . Lock became the RAF ' s most successful Allied pilot during the battle , shooting down 21 German aircraft and sharing in the destruction of one . After the Battle of Britain Lock served on the Channel Front , flying offensive sweeps over France . Lock went on to bring his overall total to 26 aerial victories , one shared destroyed and eight probable in 25 weeks of operational sorties over a one - year period — during which time he was hospitalised for six months . Included in his victory total were 20 German fighter aircraft , 18 of them Messerschmitt Bf 109 s . In mid - 1941 Lock was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant . Lock earned the nickname " Sawn Off Lockie " , because of his extremely short stature . Within less than six months of becoming one of the most famous RAF pilots in the country , he crash – landed in the English Channel after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged by ground – fire . Lock was posted missing in action . He was never seen again . Early life and career . Eric Stanley Lock was born in 1919 to a farming and quarrying family , whose home was in the rural Shropshire village of Bayston Hill . He was privately educated at Prestfelde Public School , London Road , Shrewsbury . On his 14th birthday his father treated him to a five - shilling , 15 - minute flight with Sir Alan Cobham ' s Air Circus . Unlike most teenagers , Lock was unimpressed by flying and had soon lost interest . At 16 he left school and joined his father ' s business . In 1939 he made the decision that if there was going to be a war , he wanted to be a fighter pilot , and so immediately joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve . Within three months Lock had been called up and began flight training . On the outbreak of War in September 1939 , as a trained pilot Lock joined the RAF as a Sergeant Pilot . After further training at No . 6 Flying School RAF Little Rissington , he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer ( Service Number 81642 ) and posted to No . 41 Squadron at RAF Catterick , North Yorkshire , flying Spitfires . Lock completed his training in late May 1940 . Officially qualified as a fighter pilot , he was posted to No . 41 Squadron at RAF Catterick as Acting Pilot Officer . Lock spent several weeks with his Squadron before taking two weeks leave pass in July 1940 to marry his girlfriend Peggy Meyers , a former " Miss Shrewsbury " . Lock returned to his unit and soon began combat patrols over the North of England , defending British airspace against " Luftflotte 5 " ( Air Fleet 5 ) based in Norway . Lock was bored by the patrols as it involved chasing lone enemy raiders without success . Second World War . Battle of Britain . The Battle of Britain began in July 1940 with the " Luftwaffe " making attacks on British shipping in the English Channel and Britain ' s East Coast . In August RAF Fighter Command ' s bases came under attack as the Germans attempted to establish air superiority over southern England . The battles grew larger in scale , but 41 Squadron , based in the north , were well clear of the main combat zone and saw little action for the first four weeks of the German air offensive . Lock ' s frustration ended on 15 August 1940 . On this date the " Luftwaffe " attempted to stretch Fighter Command by launching a wave of aircraft against targets in northern England where German intelligence believed there to be little opposition . It was in this battle Lock gained his first victory . Climbing at north of Catterick Lock spotted a massed formation of Messerschmitt Bf 110 s and Junkers Ju 88 s . The Squadron was ordered into line - astern formation and made an attack . In the first attack Lock followed his Section Leader . In the second he had an opportunity to fire at a Bf 110 heavy fighter . After two short bursts the starboard engine caught fire . Following the enemy fighter down to , Lock fired into the fuselage and set the port engine on fire . The machine - gunner ceased firing and Lock left it at . Lock was going to claim only a probable , but another No . 41 pilot saw it crash into Seaham Harbour and confirmed his victory . Lock soon attacked the Ju 88s , downing one of their number . In light of Fighter Command ' s need units in the south of the country , No . 41 Squadron was redeployed to RAF Hornchurch in Essex on 3 September 1940 . On 5 September , Lock flew as " Red 2 " , positioned behind and protecting the Squadron ' s Leader . He shot down two Heinkel He 111 s over the Thames Estuary . One of his victims crashed into a river , the other caught fire and its undercarriage fell down . Lock followed it down . He quickly realised his mistake — reducing height to pursue a damaged enemy put a pilot at risk from enemy fighters — but it was too late . A Messerschmitt Bf 109 attacked him and he sustained damage to his Spitfire and a wound to his leg . Lock immediately zoom - climbed . The Bf 109 attempted to follow but the pilot stalled and fell away . Lock reversed direction and dived . Waiting for the German fighter to come out of its dive he fired several short bursts and it exploded . Looking around he saw the second He 111 land in the English Channel , about ten miles from the first . Lock circled above the He 111 and noticing a boat he alerted the boat to its presence by flying over it and led the vessel to the crash site . As he left the scene he saw the crew surrendering to the occupants of the boat . On the way home he saw his first victim in the river , with a dingy nearby . A further Bf 109 was claimed destroyed on that date . The following day , despite pain from his leg and against medical advice , Lock claimed his seventh victory , a Ju 88 off Dover at 09 : 00 . On 9 September he claimed two Bf 109s destroyed over Kent and he followed the success with two victories — over a Ju 88 and Bf 110 — on 11 September 1940 . The victory brought his tally to nine enemy aircraft destroyed , eight of them in less than seven days . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ) . The award was gazetted on 1 October 1940 with a citation reading : Lock continued to shoot enemy aircraft down regularly . On 14 September he recorded two victories over Bf 109s and the following day shared in the destruction of a Dornier Do 17 before destroying a Bf 109 on 15 September 1940 — the Battle of Britain Day — over Clacton - on - Sea . Two rest days followed . On 18 September he claimed a Bf 109 probably destroyed on his first patrol then another destroyed plus one probably destroyed in the afternoon over Gravesend . On 20 September he filed a curious report that saw him attack three " Heinkel He 113 s " , shooting down one and forcing the others to flee back to France . During that sortie he sighted a Henschel Hs 126 which he pursued across the English Channel before finally downing it over the German gun batteries at Boulogne - sur - Mer . Upon landing he was told by his commanding officer that he had been awarded a Medal bar to his DFC for 15 victories in 16 days . Published on 22 October 1940 , the citation read : No . 41 Squadron ' s pilots were placed on four weeks ' rotation rest following the intense period of operational sorties , returning to RAF Hornchurch in early October 1940 . Lock immediately commenced where he had left off . On 5 October he was credited with another Bf 109 with two probables over Kent ; on 9 October another Bf 109 was claimed 10 miles from Dover and a probable followed seconds later . Off Dungeness he dispatched yet another Bf 109 on 11 October then on 20 October 1940 shot down a Bf 109 directly above RAF Biggin Hill . This victory brought his total to 20 , making Lock a ' Quadruple Ace ' . On 25 October Lock destroyed a Bf 109 to bring his tally to 21 aerial victories . The Battle of Britain ended on 31 October 1940 and Lock , with 21 enemy aircraft destroyed , was the most successful Allied ace of the campaign . Channel Front . On 8 November 1940 his Spitfire was badly damaged during a skirmish with several Bf 109s over Beachy Head in East Sussex . The Spitfire was so badly damaged that Lock crash - landed in a ploughed field , but was able to walk away . On 17 November 1940 No . 41 Squadron attacked a formation of 70 Bf 109s that were top cover for a bomber raid on London . After shooting down one Bf 109 , and setting another on fire , Lock ' s Spitfire was hit by a volley of cannon shells , which severely injured Lock ' s right arm and both legs . The rounds also knocked the throttle permanently open by severing the control lever . The open throttle enabled the Spitfire to accelerate swiftly to , leaving the Bf 109s in his wake , without Lock having to attempt to operate it with his injured right arm . At he began to descend and with little control and no means of slowing the fighter down , he could not execute a safe landing and too badly injured to parachute to safety Lock was in a perilous situation . After losing height to , Lock switched the egine off found a suitable crash site near RAF Martlesham Heath , Suffolk , into which he glided the stricken fighter for a " wheels down " landing . Lying in the aircraft for some two hours , he was found by two patrolling British Army soldiers and carried two miles ( 3 km ) on an improvised stretcher made of their Enfield rifles and Army issue winter coats — made after instruction from Lock . By this point , Lock had lost so much blood that he was unconscious , and so unable to feel the additional pain of being dropped three times , once into a dyke of water . After being transferred to the Princess Mary ’ s Hospital at RAF Halton , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) on 17 December 1940 , the citation read : Lock underwent fifteen separate operations over the following three months to remove shrapnel and other metal fragments from his wounds . For the following three months he remained at Halton recuperating from his injuries , leaving on only one occasion to travel on crutches and in full uniform to Buckingham Palace , where King George VI presented him with his DSO , DFC and Bar . He was also Mentioned in Despatches in March 1941 . Last battles and death . Lock spent several months in hospital . He stayed at the Royal Masonic Hospital with Richard Hillary , another Battle of Britain ace . They were operated on by Archibald McIndoe a famous Surgeon . While there , Hillary wrote his memoirs " The Last Enemy " , before his death in a flying accident on 8 January 1943 . He remembered Lock having Sulfapyridine treatment and being " vociferous " . The nurses wore anti - infection masks and gloves , and Eric , " with an aimiable grin " would curse them for it " from dawn till dusk " . In June 1941 he received notification that he had been promoted to Flying Officer and was requested to report back for immediate flying duty with 41 Squadron . Four weeks later he was promoted again to Flight Lieutenant and posted to No . 611 Squadron in command of B Flight . In July 1941 he gained three victories against Bf 109s flying offensive sweeps over France — on 6 July at 15 : 00 , on 8 July at 06 : 30 and 11 : 00 on 14 July near Le Touquet . On 3 August 1941 , Lock was returning from a fighter " Rhubarb " when he spotted a column of German troops and vehicles on a road near the Pas - de - Calais . Signalling the attack to his wingman , Lock was seen to peel off from the formation and prepare for the ground strafing attack — the last time he was seen . He is believed to have been shot down by ground – fire . Neither his body or his Spitfire Mk V , W3257 , have ever been found , despite a thorough search of the area in the years following the war by both the RAF and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Lock was the first of three successful RAF aces who were shot down during this period : Douglas Bader was shot down in error and taken prisoner on 9 August 1941 ; Robert Stanford Tuck ' s Spitfire was hit by enemy ground - based flak near Boulogne - sur - Mer on 28 January 1942 and he was forced to crash land and taken prisoner . In July 1942 , Paddy Finucane would be lost in similar circumstances to Lock . Memorial . Lock ’ s name is carved in Panel 29 on the Runnymede Memorial along with the 20 , 400 other British and Commonwealth airmen who were posted missing in action during the war . A new road was named after him in Shropshire where his family ' s former home lies , as well as the members ' bar at the Shropshire Aero Club based at a former wartime airfield , RAF Sleap . List of victories . Lock was credited with 26 air victories and eight probable victories . The total included 17 Bf 109s , one ' Heinkel He 113 ' ( probably a Bf 109 ) , one Henschel Hs 126 , two Bf 110s , two He 111s , two Ju 88s and a Do 17 destroyed .