Don Finlay Group Captain Donald " Don " Osborne Finlay , DFC , AFC ( 27 May 1909 — 18 April 1970 ) was a British athlete and Royal Air Force officer . He was born in Christchurch , Hampshire and died in Great Missenden . Athletics career . A member of Milocarian Athletic Club and Surrey Athletics Club ( based in Kingston upon Thames ) , he represented Great Britain in three Olympics both pre - and post - World War II . In 16 international dual meets , Finlay only lost two hurdles races : to Lord Burghley in 1931 ( vs . Italy ) and to John Thornton in 1937 ( vs . Germany ) . He first competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles , United States in the 110 metre hurdles where he won the bronze medal . He was also a member of the British relay team which finished sixth in the 4×100 metre relay event . He returned to the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin , Germany where he improved to win the silver medal in the 110 metre hurdles . With the British relay team he was eliminated in the first round of the 4×100 metre relay competition . He was the British Team Captain in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and was chosen to take the Olympic Oath , though he failed to win any medals in these Games when he was eliminated in the first round of the 110 metre hurdles event , hitting the last hurdle with his leading foot and falling at the finish . In 1949 , at the age of 40 , he won his eighth AAA title and he was the AAA indoor champion in both 1937 and 1938 . At the 1934 Empire Games he won the gold medal in the 120 yards hurdles competition . He also participated in the 1950 British Empire Games and finished fifth in the 120 yards hurdles contest . He was the Inter - Services champion in the long jump and was RAF champion in the high jump . Military career . He joined the RAF in April 1935 , and was posted to No 17 Squadron , and later in 1936 to No . 54 Squadron RAF before attending the RAF School of Aeronautical Engineering at Henlow . In World War II he was posted to fly Spitfires as commanding officer of his old 54 Squadron , then based at Hornchurch , on 26 August 1940 , during the Battle of Britain . He was shot down over Ramsgate two days later and was wounded . Afer recovering he was posted to command No . 41 Squadron in September . He claimed his first victory , a Messerschmitt Bf 109 , over the Channel on 23 September , and by the end of October 1940 he was credited with a ' share ' in a second Bf 109 and a Dornier Do 17 bomber , and had also damaged a further three Bf 109s . His aircraft was damaged in combat with Oblt . Hans - Ekkehard Bob of JG 54 on 9 October 1940 . He added two more Bf 109s to his tally on 23 and 27 November 1940 . He was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander in August 1941 , becoming 11 Group Engineering Officer . He received the DFC in June 1942 . His victory tally flying fighters was 4 and 2 shared destroyed , 3 and 1 shared damaged . He then commanded No . 608 Squadron RAF , flying Lockheed Hudson s in the Middle East from December 1943 to July 1944 . He became a Group captain and was posted as SASO , 210 Group . In 1945 he then commanded 906 Wing in Burma , being awarded an AFC in September 1944 . As a Group Captain he was posted to No . 1 School of Technical Training , RAF Halton , as Senior Technical Training Officer . He regularly took part in the station sports meeting and even at the age of 43 won every event he entered : 100x Hurdles , 100x , 220x , High Jump and the Long Jump . He entered the Veterans ' ( over 40 ) Handicap . He took the offered three yard start in full running kit , unlike all the other entrants who were in shirts and rolled - up trousers . From the start he raced to the tape , to show that he could ' ve won if he wanted to . He then stopped , turned round and started to run back down the track . In doing so he knocked over a few of the real competitors who were close behind . Loud boos rang around the athletic track and all respect was lost for someone who , on his arrival at Halton had been almost ' hero - worshipped ' . He was stationed for much of his time at RAF Acklington , whose chapel contains a recently dedicated stained glass window to honour him . He retired from the RAF in February 1959 . He was severely injured and paralysed in a motor vehicle accident in 1966 , which led to his death on 19 April 1970 , aged sixty . In 2012 No 41 ( R ) Squadron based at RAF Coningsby unveiled a Panavia Tornado GR4 ZA614 " EB - Z " with special tail markings celebrating Don Finlay ' s command of the Squadron and his achievements in the 1932 and 1936 Games .