Eric Douglas Cummings Captain Eric Douglas Cummings ( 13 April 1896 – 27 October 1979 ) was an Australian World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories while flying for the Australian Flying Corps . Postwar , he was an integral part of fund - raising campaigns to care for his fellow Australian military veterans . He then served in the Royal Air Force reserves until reactivated for service during World War II . Early life . Cummings was born to Doctor and Mrs . H . L . Cummings in Franklin , Tasmania , Australia on 13 April 1896 . He had a brother , Roy , who would serve in the Australian Flying Corps with him . Cummings ( serial number 1026 ) enlisted in the 2nd Signal Company AIF on 27 October 1914 , giving his profession as cart driver and claiming 15 months prior service in C Company , 93rd Regiment of the militia . He embarked for departure from Australia in December 1914 ; he was in the 15th Battalion ( Australia ) as a bugler . He served in the Gallipoli Campaign before transferring to aviation . World War I aviation service . Cummings was assigned to train at the flying school at RAF Shawbury . He completed all phases of his training in three weeks , and was posted to 2 Squadron AFC . Although he had yet to score an aerial victory , his rise through the ranks was rapid , and he was appointed Flight Commander on 17 October 1916 . He subsequently liaised with Rene Fonck in operations against Manfred von Richthofen ' s Flying Circus . Details of Cummings ' service over the next year and a half are missing . By May 1918 , however , he was assigned to 2 Squadron AFC as a Royal Aircraft Factory SE . 5 a pilot . On 3 May 1918 , he scored his first aerial victory . His brother Roy mailed home a copy of orders describing the action ; this was reprinted in " The ( Hobart ) Mercury " in the Cummings ' native Tasmania . The reprint gives a vivid description of early aerial warfare : " Lieutenant E . D . Cummings . . . attacked a . . . triplane , and fired a burst from both guns into it . The enemy aircraft immediately went down in a spin , followed by Lieutenant Cummings , still firing . The enemy aircraft then turned on its back , and finally crashed . . . At this point Lieutenant Cummings was attacked by four . . . triplanes , who shot away his elevator controls , instrument board , petrol and oil tanks ; his machine went down almost out of control , but he managed to keep it out of a spin until it . . . crashed . His safety - belt broke , and he was thrown clear of the machine into a shell - hole . . . " Nothing daunted , Cummings went on to score eight more confirmed aerial wins and rise to the rank of captain . His bravery would win him a Distinguished Flying Cross , which would be gazetted 8 February 1919 : Between the wars . Cummings returned to Australia after the war ; on 28 August 1919 he flew an aerobatic exhibition in a Sopwith Pup over downtown Hobart , including eight loops . The exhibition was a public relations stunt to draw a crowd to subscribe to a Peace Loan of 750 , 000 Pounds to care for military veterans . After his departure from Hobart , he barnstormed locally for the Peace Loan , despite engine trouble after departing Launceston for Longford and Devonport on 9 September 1919 . On 11 February 1920 Cummings was invested with the Distinguished Flying Cross by General William Birdwood in Cummings ' home town of Franklin . On 7 June 1923 Cummings was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force as a Flying Officer . On 7 June 1928 he was transferred to Class A Reserve of the Royal Air Force ; he would remain in the reserves in various capacities until World War II . While Cummings was a reservist he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 4 February 1931 . Also during this time , on 27 April 1932 , he was elected to membership in the Royal Aero Club . World War II . Cummings returned to active service for World War II . On 7 June 1940 he was promoted to temporary Squadron Leader . On 1 March 1942 , Cummings was promoted to temporary Wing Commander .