William Reid ( VC ) William Reid VC ( 21 December 1921 – 28 November 2001 ) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . He earned his Victoria Cross as a pilot in the Royal Air Force Bomber Command during the Second World War . Born in Baillieston , Lanarkshire , he applied to join the RAF on the outbreak of war . After initial training , he was selected as a bomber pilot , and soon became a flying instructor himself . He was eventually given an operational posting , flying a number of raids before that on Düsseldorf which led to the award of the VC . On a later raid he was shot down and spent some time as a German prisoner of war . He left the RAF after the war , and worked in the agricultural industry . On 19 November 2009 his VC was sold at auction for £384 , 000 , a record for a VC awarded to someone from the United Kingdom . Early life . William Reid was born in Baillieston , near Glasgow , on 21 December 1921 the son of a blacksmith . He was educated at Swinton Primary School and Coatbridge Higher Grade School and studied metallurgy for a time , but then applied to join the RAF . After training in Canada , he received his wings and was a sergeant when he was commissioned as a pilot officer on probation in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 19 June 1942 . He then trained on twin - engined Airspeed Oxford s at Little Rissington before moving to the Operational Training Unit at RAF North Luffenham . There , his skill as a pilot led to his being selected as an instructor , flying the Vickers Wellington , albeit with the promise of a posting to an Avro Lancaster heavy bomber unit . He was promoted to flying officer on 19 December 1942 . The posting did not materialise until July 1943 , when he was sent to 1654 Conversion Unit , RAF Wigsley , near Newark - on - Trent , where he flew his first operational mission as second pilot , in a Lancaster of 9 Squadron , in a raid on Mönchengladbach . In September he was posted to 61 Squadron at RAF Syerston , Newark , to commence Lancaster bombing operations , and flew seven sorties to various German cities before the raid on Düsseldorf . Düsseldorf . Reid was a 21 - year - old acting flight lieutenant serving in 61 Squadron when he took part in the raid on Düsseldorf in Germany which led to the award of his VC . On the night of 3 November 1943 , on the way to Düsseldorf , the windscreen of Flight Lieutenant Reid ' s Lancaster ( serial LM360 ) was shattered by fire from a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the gun turrets and cockpit badly damaged . Saying nothing of his multiple injuries , he continued on his mission and soon afterwards the bomber was attacked again by a Focke - Wulf Fw 190 . His navigator was killed and the wireless operator fatally wounded . He was wounded again , as was the flight engineer , while the Lancaster received more serious damage . The starboard part of the tailplane had been lost . He decided to carry on , rather than turn back . No - one else on board could have flown the plane in a straight line , let alone with all the damage sustained . Reid modestly claimed that his main reason for pressing on was that turning back would have involved flying through or across the following bomber stream , with a real danger of mid - air collision . Pressing on to his target , Reid released the bombs , then set course for home . On the way back to Syerston , he saw the searchlights of RAF Shipdham , a USAAF - operated base in Norfolk . Despite being wounded and suffering from loss of blood , Reid succeeded in landing his plane - though the undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft slid along the runway . The wireless operator died in Shipdham ' s medical centre but the rest of the crew survived . He was awarded the VC on 14 December 1943 . The citation reads : 617 Squadron . After a period in hospital , Reid went to C Flight , 617 ( Dambuster ) Squadron at RAF Woodhall Spa in January 1944 and flew sorties to various targets in France . He was promoted to substantive flight lieutenant on 14 June 1944 . On 31 July 1944 , 617 Squadron was linked with 9 Squadron for a " Tallboy " deep penetration bomb attack on a V - weapon storage dump at Rilly - la - Montagne , near Rheims . As Reid , flying in Lancaster Mk . I ME557 KC - S , released his bomb over the target at 12 , 000 ft , he felt his aircraft shudder under the impact of a bomb dropped by another Lancaster 6 , 000 ft above . The bomb ploughed through his aeroplane ' s fuselage , severing all control cables and fatally weakening its structure , and Reid gave the order to bail out . As members of his crew scrambled out , the plane went into a dive , pinning Reid to his seat . Reaching overhead , he managed to release the escape hatch panel and struggled out just as the Lancaster broke in two . He landed heavily by parachute , breaking his arm in the fall . Within an hour he was captured by a German patrol and taken prisoner . After various transfers , he ended the war in Stalag III - A prisoner of war camp at Luckenwalde , west of Berlin . Post war . Reid was demobilised in 1946 and resumed his studies , first at the University of Glasgow and later at the West of Scotland Agricultural College . After graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1949 , he went on a travelling scholarship for six months , studying agriculture in India , Australia , New Zealand , America and Canada . He retained a reserve commission until 15 January 1949 . Later years . In 1950 , he became an agricultural adviser to the MacRobert Trust , Douneside . From 1959 to his retirement in 1981 , he was an adviser to a firm of animal feed manufacturers . Reid is interviewed and provides a vivid description of the mission for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross in episode 12 , " Whirlwind – Bombing Germany ( September 1939 – April 1944 ) " , of the acclaimed British documentary television series , " The World at War . " Family . Reid married Violet Campbell Gallagher , a daughter of William Gallagher , sports editor of the " Glasgow Daily Record " in 1952 . She was reportedly completely unaware that he was a VC holder until they were married . Death . William Reid died at the age of 79 on 28 November 2001 , survived by his wife and their two children . On 19 November 2009 , his VC was sold at an auction by medal specialists Spink . It went to an anonymous bidder for £384 , 000 , a record for a VC awarded to someone from the United Kingdom .