Kenneth Campbell Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell ( 21 April 1917 – 6 April 1941 ) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . Details . Kenneth Campbell was from Ayrshire and educated at Sedbergh School . He gained a chemistry degree at Cambridge , where he was a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron . In September 1939 he was mobilised for RAF service , Flying Officer Campbell joining No . 22 squadron in September 1940 , with the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber . Campbell torpedoed a merchant vessel near Borkum in March 1941 and days later he made an escape from a pair of Bf - 110 fighters despite extensive damage to his aircraft . Two days later on a ‘ Rover ’ patrol he torpedoed another vessel , off IJmuiden . On 6 April 1941 over Brest Harbour , France , Flying Officer Campbell attacked the German battleship " Gneisenau " . He flew his Bristol Beaufort through the gauntlet of concentrated anti - aircraft fire from about 1000 weapons of all calibers and launched a torpedo at a height of . The attack had to be made with absolute precision : the " Gneisenau " was moored only some away from a mole in Brest ' s inner harbour . For the attack to be effective Campbell would have to time the release to drop the torpedo close to the side of the mole . That Campbell managed to launch his torpedo accurately is testament to his courage and determination . The ship was severely damaged below the waterline and was obliged to return to the dock whence she had come only the day before , she was out of action for 6 months , which thus allowed allied shipping to cross the Atlantic without any threat . Generally , once a torpedo was dropped an escape was made by low - level jinking at full throttle . Because of rising ground surrounding the harbour Flying Officer Campbell ' s Beaufort was forced into a steep banking turn , revealing its full silhouette to the gunners . The aircraft met a withering wall of flak and crashed into the harbour . The Germans buried Campbell and his other three crew mates , Sgts . J P Scott DFM RCAF ( navigator ) , R W Hillman ( wireless operator ) and W C Mulliss ( air gunner ) , with full military honours . His valour was only recognised when the French Resistance managed to leak news of his brave deeds to England . A memorial to him stands in his old school , Sedbergh , commemorating his brave deeds . Victoria Cross Citation . The announcement and accompanying citation for the decoration was published in supplement to the London Gazette on 13 March 1942 , reading Recognition . At a small ceremony in his home town of Saltcoats in Ayrshire on 6 April 2000 , the 59th anniversary of his death at Brest , a memorial plaque and bench were unveiled by his sister in law , and his 90 - year - old brother handed over his VC to the safekeeping of the commanding officer of the present day 22 Squadron . The RAF named their original Vickers VC10 aircraft after Victoria Cross holders . XR808 is named after Kenneth Campbell . Education . Kenneth Campbell was educated at Sedbergh School and Clare College , Cambridge