Christopher Draper Squadron Commander Christoper Draper , DSC Croix de guerre ( 15 April 1892 – 16 January 1979 ) , was an English flying ace of World War I . His penchant for flying under bridges earned him the nickname " the Mad Major . " After the war he became a film star through his work both as a stunt pilot and as an actor . During the 1930s he worked for a time as a British secret agent , serving as a double agent to Nazi Germany . He returned to the Navy in World War II . During his flying career he logged over 17 , 000 flying hours on 73 types of aircraft . Early life . Christopher Draper was born at Bebington , on the Wirral in Cheshire England in 1892 , into a family of five sons and two daughters . He became interested in flying in July 1909 when Louis Blériot flew across the English Channel . Unable to afford the GBP 75 fee for pilot training , Draper wrote to his local MP , Sir Joseph Hoult , who was an acquaintance of his father . Hoult provided Draper with GBP 210 after making him promise not to tell anyone about the gift . On 6 October 1913 , with a total of 3 hours 15 minutes of flying experience , he obtained Royal Aero Club Aviator ' s Certificate No . 646 . While trying to find a job flying , he learned from a cousin in the service that the Royal Navy was offering short service commissions to pilots with an Aviator ' s Certificate . After passing the medical Draper joined the Royal Naval Air Service in January 1914 and was commissioned as a probationary sub - Lieutenant , RNR . From January to April 1914 he attended the fifth course at the Central Flying School . Also on the course were Hugh Dowding and Wilfrid Freeman while the instructors included John Tremayne Babington and John Salmond - all of whom were later Air Marshal s . After passing his course , Draper was assigned to the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch under the command of Commander Charles Rumney Samson . On 20 July he was one of nine pilots who flew in the Naval Review at Spithead , the first review to include aircraft . Spending the initial war years on Home defence in Newcastle and Scotland , Draper initiated his liking for dare - devil exploits by flying a seaplane under one of the spans of the Firth of Tay bridge near Dundee . While based at Dundee , Draper was ordered to land an aeroplane on the green at St . Andrew ' s golf course . He stopped right in front of the clubhouse . World War I . Royal Naval Air Service . In mid - 1916 he was posted to 3 Naval Wing , who were preparing to go to France . While collecting his new Sopwith 1½ Strutter , Draper flew the aircraft under the foot - bridge which ran around the racing track behind the Sopwith hangars at Brooklands . While flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter with 3 Naval Wing he scored his first four victories while carrying out some of the first strategic bombing missions against German industrial targets . In 1917 he flew with 6 Naval Squadron on Nieuports , claiming two victories . On 6 June 1917 his aircraft was shot up in combat with Jasta 5 , before Draper slightly wounded prominent German ace Lt . Werner Voss ( with 34 victories at the time ) , and forced him to land his Albatros D . III . After a heated argument with his Commanding Officer , Draper was transferred back to England soon after . In the autumn of 1917 he returned to combat with 8 Naval Squadron , with which he scored three more victories . In October 1917 Draper became commanding officer of 8 Naval Squadron . Like most RNAS and RFC Squadrons by now , it was a multi - national unit , manned by British , Australians ( including the leading Australian ace Robert A . Little ) , Canadians , and at least one American . By the time the war ended , this Squadron would boast 25 aces . During the German offensive of spring 1918 the enemy ’ s initial success was such that Draper was forced to order the burning of 16 of Naval 8 ’ s own aircraft to prevent them being captured on the ground by the advancing German Army . Royal Air Force . On 1 April 1918 , 8 Naval Squadron became No . 208 Squadron RAF when the RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps merged to become the Royal Air Force . Draper was notorious for refusing to wear the new , blue RAF uniforms , preferring his Naval blacks . On 13 October 1918 , he was wounded by anti - aircraft fire . One morning while flying towards the front lines Draper accidentally flew under a bridge while in full view of a large body of troops . The troops cheered so heartily that Draper repeated the stunt wherever possible . This earned him his nickname " The Mad Major " . ( In its early days the RAF used Army ranks . ) For his service in the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de guerre . Interwar years . Stunt and film flying . After the war , Draper left the RAF and became a secondhand car salesman . When this venture failed he returned to flying , and in April 1919 he was the Chief test pilot for B . A . T . , piloting the first flight of the British Aerial Transport Company ' s F . K . 26 . This was the first plane specifically designed to carry passengers . Draper was lucky to survive a crash on 23 March 1920 test flying the BAT Bantam at Hendon . When the company folded Draper sought an interview with Air Marshal Hugh Trenchard and was granted a commission in the RAF . Posted to the Central Flying School he led the RAF aerobatic team in the 1921 Air Pageant . Leaving the RAF in 1921 , he continued to fly as a stunt pilot at air shows and in films . In 1930 , out of work and penniless , he decided to raise sublicity both for himself and as a protest over the government ' s treatment of war veterans . Borrowing a Puss Moth biplane , he set out to fly under all 14 of London ' s bridges over the River Thames . Due to bad weather on the day he only managed to fly under two of the bridges . This was captured on film and brought " The Mad Major " the desired degree of fame . Draper ' s work as a stunt pilot in films eventually led him into acting . Standing six feet two inches tall , with a robust frame and a classic profile , he was photogenic . He starred in many theatrical productions and several films as " George Mannering " . He played a pilot in 1935 ' s " King of the Damned " . Espionage work . In 1932 Draper was invited to participate in an " Aces of the Air Tour " of Germany . Aces from many nations participated . In addition to meeting various German aces ( he became firm friends with the German ace Major Eduard Ritter von Schleich ) . He was also introduced to Adolf Hitler . As a result of this meeting and of Draper ' s longstanding criticism of the British Government ' s treatment of veterans , he was listed by the Nazi Party as a potential sympathizer . After his return to England he was contacted and asked to spy for the Germans . He agreed and then immediately contacted MI6 . They decided to use him as a double agent to feed false information to the Nazis . This situation continued for about four years until the Germans stopped answering Draper ' s communications . World War II and post - war years . In 1939 , Draper joined the Royal Naval Reserve and was posted to Ford as assistant armament officer before going to Trinidad . In World War II , although 47 years of age , he became a Lieutenant Commander with postings in Scotland and the Gold Coast in 1943 , before commanding No . 777 Squadron at Freetown , flying anti - submarine duties in Supermarine Walrus , Boulton Paul Defiant and Fairey Swordfish aircraft . After the war Draper once more drifted into a variety of activities including acting and store - keeping . By the fifties he was once again upset at the government ' s treatment of veterans . On 5 May 1953 , he again repeated his earlier protest by flying under the Thames bridges . This time he flew a rented , 100 h . p . Auster monoplane under 15 of the 18 bridges . It was a spectacular stunt ; the bridge arches were only 40 to 50 feet high ; Draper was flying 90 mph and dodged around a ship . According to news accounts , he pulled off his stunt as a means of seeking attention and soliciting job offers . He was arrested , charged with flying too low in an urban area , and assessed a nominal ten guineas court costs . " I did it for the publicity , " Draper told the press ; " For 14 months I have been out of a job , and I ' m broke . I wanted to prove that I am still fit , useful and worth employing . . . They tell me I can be jailed , possibly for six months . . . It was my last - ever flight - I meant it as a spectacular swansong . " However , he retained his pilot ' s license for another eleven years ; it was revoked in 1964 . His memoirs " The Mad Major " were published by Aero Publishers in 1962 . Draper died in Camden , London in 1979 .