Richard Hillary Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary ( 20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943 ) was a Battle of Britain pilot who died during World War II . He is best known for his book " The Last Enemy " , based upon his experiences during the Battle of Britain . Early life . Hillary was the son of an Australian government official and was sent to England to be educated at Shrewsbury School and Trinity College , Oxford . Whilst at Oxford , he was secretary of the Oxford University Boat Club and president of the Rugby Club . He rowed in the successful Trinity College VIII of 1938 . He joined the Oxford University Air Squadron and RAFVR in 1939 . RAF career . Hillary was called up to the Royal Air Force in October 1939 and in July 1940 , having completed his training , he was posted to B Flight , No . 603 Squadron RAF , based at Montrose flying Spitfires . The Squadron moved south to RAF Hornchurch on 27 August 1940 and immediately saw combat . In one week of combat Hillary personally claimed five Bf . 109 ’ s shot down and claimed two more probably destroyed , and one damaged . Richard Hillary writes about his first experience in a Supermarine Spitfire in " The Last Enemy " : On 3 September 1940 he had just made his fifth " kill " when he was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 flown by " Hauptmann " Helmut Bode of II . / JG 26 Unable to quickly escape from his burning aircraft , he suffered extensive burns to his face and hands , but did eventually escape the aircraft and bailed out into the North Sea where he was rescued by the Margate lifeboat " Lord Southborough " ( ON 688 ) . Hillary is one of the best known of McIndoe ' s " Guinea Pig Club " , having endured three months of painful surgery in an attempt to fully repair the damage to his hands and face in order to return to combat duty . Return to flight , and death . Hillary managed to bully himself back into a flying position even though , as it was noted in the officers ' mess , he could barely handle a knife and fork . Hillary returned to service with 54 Operational Training Unit at RAF Charterhall after recovering from his injuries . He died on 8 January 1943 with his radio operator - observer Sgt . Wilfred Fison when he crashed his Bristol Blenheim during a night training flight , the aircraft coming to rest on Crunklaw Farm . It has been alleged that the burn damage to his hands rendered Hillary unfit for active service . The funeral service of Richard Hope Hillary took place at St Martin - in - the - Fields on 25 January 1943 at 12 : 30pm followed by cremation at Golders Green Crematorium , where he is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cremation memorial . Hillary ' s ashes were scattered from a Boston over the English Channel by his former 603 Squadron commanding officer , Wing Commander George Denholm . Memorial . In 2001 a memorial to Hillary was unveiled at the site of the former RAF Charterhall near Greenlaw , Berwickshire . Hillary ' s love affair with Mary Booker which lasted from December 1941 until his death was the subject of Michael Burn ' s book " Richard & Mary " ( 1988 ) He is today remembered in his alma mater of Trinity College , Oxford , by an annual literature prize , a portrait outside the college library , and an annual lecture in his honour . This lecture is delivered in the Gulbenkian Lecture Theatre in the English Faculty , Oxford . It has been delivered by Ian McEwan , Philip Pullman , Julian Barnes , Mark Haddon , Jeanette Winterson , Sebastian Faulks and Howard Jacobson . The most recent lecture , by playwright Tom Stoppard , was presented in the Sheldonian Theatre on 13 May 2011 .