William Vale Squadron Leader William " Cherry " Vale DFC & Bar , AFC ( 3 June 1914 – 29 November 1981 ) was a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) pilot who , during the Second World War , claimed 30 enemy aircraft shot down and shared in the destruction of three others , and also claiming 6 damaged and another two shared damaged . His 20 kills achieved while flying the Hawker Hurricane and his 10 with the Gloster Gladiator made him the second highest scoring Hurricane and second high scoring biplane pilot ( second in both cases to Marmaduke Pattle ) in the RAF . Entry into RAF . Born in Chatham , Kent , William Vale entered the RAF in 1931 as a Fitter and then as a Gunner . In 1935 he was posted to No . 33 Squadron RAF in Egypt , equipped with the Hawker Hart . In 1936 he began training as a pilot at 4 FTS , Abu Sueir . He returned as a Sergeant pilot to 33 squadron in late 1937 . In March 1938 the unit converted to the Gloster Gladiator . World War II . Combat Operations . Based in Egypt at the beginning of the war , Vale flew operations over the Libyan border . Between 1 July 1940 and 28 February 1941 Vale claimed 10 " Regia Aeronautica " aircraft in the Gladiator , although several of his victories are not confirmed . He claimed his first victory on 1 July 1940 , a Fiat CR . 32 over Fort Capuzzo . But this claim cannot be verified with Italian sources as the 50° " Stormo " , the only unit operating this type did not suffer any losses on this day . On 15 July , during a defensive patrol he claimed a shared Savoia Marchetti SM . 79 near Mersa Matruh . The Italian unit involved is not known and this claim cannot be verified with Regia Aeronautica records . In July Vale was commissioned and posted to No . 80 Squadron . He saw action over Greece and the Balkans through late 1940 and early 1941 , and flew over Crete in May 1941 in defence of the island . Between 3 March 1941 and 12 June 1941 Vale claimed some 20 kills , all while flying the Hawker Hurricane . Some of these victories however remain to be confirmed . For instance on 4 March 1941 he claimed a Fiat G . 50 destroyed over Himare - Valona , in Albania , while flying Hurricane V7589 . The " Regia Aeronautica " did not report losing any G . 50 . types . He then flew operations over Syria against the Vichy French and three of his kills were over Vichy French Air Force aircraft . On 11 June 1941 Vale claimed a Potez 63 of GR II / 39 , which was damaged . Next day he claimed two Dewoitine D . 520 fighters near Haifa . With the chaotic retreats from Greece and Crete official RAF records - including combat reports - were destroyed , making many pilot ' s claims for enemy aircraft destroyed impossible to verify . However Vale ' s claim total appears to be around 30 with 3 shared destroyed , 6 damaged and 1 shared damaged . But at least seven of his claims cannot be verified with " Regia Aeronautica " and " Luftwaffe " records . Vale had fought in the North African Campaign , Greek Campaign and the Battle of Crete . Vale did not participate in combat operations for the remainder of the war . Awarded the DFC and bar , in July 1941 Vale was posted to RAF Haifa as Operations Officer , returning to the United Kingdom in April 1942 to become CFI at 59 OTU . In March 1943 Vale attended the Central Gunnery School at Sutton Bridge , then commanded 11 AFC at Fairwood Common until the end of the war . Post war . In 1946 he was O . C . Gunnery and Armament Testing at West Raynham , but he left the service in October having also been awarded an AFC . He lived in Nottinghamshire for some years , and was killed in a road accident on 29 November 1981 .