Roy Calvert Squadron Leader Roy Oldfield Calvert ( 31 October 1913 – 26 March 2002 ) was an officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force ( RNZAF ) during the Second World War . He is one of only four New Zealand born airmen to receive two medal bars to his Distinguished Flying Cross . Career . Calvert was born on 31 October 1913 in Cambridge , a small town in the Waikato Region , of New Zealand ' s North Island . He was educated at Cambridge Primary School and between 1926 and 1929 , King ' s College School in Auckland . Before joining the RNZAF Calvert was a wool grader in the Cambridge district . Calvert volunteered for the RNZAF very early on in the war and was eventually accepted in December 1940 . He began training at the Ground Training School , Wereroa , near Levin . At the completion of this course in May 1941 , he received his Wings as a qualified RNZAF pilot . Calvert was posted Liverpool , England , via Canada and sent to No 2 School of Navigation , at RAF Cranage , where he trained in navigation on the Avro Anson light bomber . On 14 April 1942 , Calvert was posted to 50 Squadron based at RAF Skellingthorpe . Two days later he flew his first operational mission in a Manchester on a night raid on Lille , France . Despite their unreliable engines , Calvert enjoyed flying Manchesters . DFC . Along with his navigator , Calvert was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in October 1942 for his part in several combat missions over hostile territory including the 94 - bomber raid on the Le Creusot armament factory , whilst flying both Manchesters and Lancasters . The citation read : First Medal bar . On the evening of 9 / 10 November 1942 , Calvert flew and operation Hamburg , almost at the end of his first tour . Approaching Denmark , towering cloud gave them icing problems that was so thick they could not see anything that would help identify position . Calvert turned south to run to the target by dead reckoning . Through a break in the clouds , Calvert spotted railway marshalling yards and prepared the aircraft for a bombing run . At that moment , the plane was hit by flak killing the wireless operator , smashing the navigators arm and peppering fragments of perspex and flak splinters into Calvert ' s face and arm . With radio and navigation aids out , aileron trim and rudder unserviceable , Calvert flew the badly damaged bomber back to England , crashlanding at Bradwell Bay on the Essex coast . After a stay in hospital , Calvert returned to base and was awarded a Bar to his DFC . The citation read : Second Medal bar . At the end of his first tour , Calvert instructed for a year , but returned to flying operations in January 1944 with 630 Squadron based at East Kirkby , Lincolnshire . By August 1944 Calvert he had been promoted to Acting - Squadron Leader and was also acting commanding officer of the squadron for about two months . He was awarded a Second Bar to his DFC on the 15 of September 1944 , for service while flying with that squadron . His citation read : Calvert returned to New Zealand in late 1944 after he accepted the opportunity to join a group of New Zealanders about to return home through North America . He was discharged on 15 March 1945 , returned to Cambridge and became a farmer for the rest of his working life . Calvert died on the 26 of March 2002 , aged 88 , after a battle with cancer . He was buried at the RSA Cemetery at Hautapu , Cambridge having lived in the town and district for all his pre and postwar life .