William Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick Major William John Charles Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick DSO , MC & Bar ( 25 May 1896 – 26 September 1933 ) was a World War I flying ace credited with 21 aerial victories . He was the leading ace flying the Spad VII fighter , and of No . 23 Squadron . He later flew aerial surveys on three continents . Early life and service . Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick was born in Beith , Ayrshire , Scotland on 25 May 1896 , the only son of Neil James Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick ( later Sir Neil ) and Eleonora Agnes Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick of Woodside and Ladyland . He had three sisters , all younger . He attended Wellington College in Berkshire and Trinity College , Cambridge before going to Royal Military College Sandhurst . Flying service . Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick qualified as a pilot in April 1915 . He was so skilled a flier that he was assigned as chief test pilot to No . 1 Aeroplane Depot at Saint - Omer , France . He was officially seconded to the Royal Flying Corps from The Rifle Brigade on 11 June 1915 . On 17 March 1916 , he was promoted from second lieutenant to lieutenant while staying seconded to the RFC . On 26 April , he achieved his first victory despite his test pilot status . He used Nieuport No . 5172 to attack an LVG C - type three times . The LVG crash - landed with a dead crew . He was awarded the Military Cross on 16 May 1916 , for this capture of an enemy plane . As a result of his victory and award , he was transferred to No . 70 Squadron to fly Sopwith 1½ Strutter s . He scored victories two and three on 14 and 15 September 1916 , having his observer killed on both occasions . He was promoted to Captain and transferred to No . 23 Squadron in early 1917 to fly Spad VII s . He shot a double on 22 April to become an ace . He won twice more in April , and again on 2 May . His next victory , on 11 May , would be his most notable ; he set afire the Albatros D . III of " Jasta " 5 ' s triple - ace " Offz . Stlvtr . " Edmund Nathanael , its fuselage falling away from its wings and plunged in flames to earth . It was also during this stretch that he was entrusted by Major General Hugh Trenchard to evaluate the new Spad XIII at La Bonne Maison Aerodrome . He turned in his report to Trenchard on 1 May 1917 . Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick claimed three more times in May , four times in June , and five in July . After his final victory , on 16 July 1917 , he was promoted to acting Major on 22 July , and given command of No . 60 Squadron . In lieu of a second award , he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross on 14 August 1917 . A month later , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . He was Mentioned in Despatches on 7 November 1917 by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig . He was denoted as a lieutenant doing a job two grades his senior ; he was a temporary major . At the end of 1917 he was transferred back to England to the Training Directorate of the Air Board . From there , he returned to No . 1 AD in 1918 . His war time tally was 1 captured , 6 and 4 shared destroyed , 9 and 1 shared ' out of control ' . Postwar life . He resigned his commission on 9 July 1919 . He became a major in the General Reserve of Officers the same day . He married Natalie Bertha Tanner of Larches , Rusherville , Kent on 20 July 1924 . They had a single son two years later , Neil Aylmer Kennedy - Cochran - Patrick ( later Neil Aylmer Hunter ) . He went on to fly a lot of aerial survey work in the postwar years . He carried out surveys in South America , Burma , Iraq , and Africa . He established his own company , The Aircraft Operating Company of South Africa Pty Ltd . He had a contract for a air route survey in Northern Rhodesia ( now Zambia ) . He was elected to membership of the Royal Aero Club on 10 December 1930 . Then , on 26 September 1933 , he took off from Baragwanath Airport near Johannesburg , South Africa , flying a de Havilland DH . 84 Dragon , registration ZS - AEF . He stalled out at after making a steep turn . The resulting crash killed him and his passenger , Sir Michael Oppenheimer . Honours and awards . Military Cross ( MC ) Military Cross ( MC ) Bar Distinguished Service Order ( DSO )