Sydney Carlin ( RAF officer ) Pilot Officer Sydney " Timbertoes " Carlin , MC , DFC , DCM ( 1889 – 1941 ) was a World War II Royal Air Force air gunner during the Battle of Britain , having lost a leg during World War I . Early life . Sydney Carlin was born in Hull , the son of William Carlin , a drysalter . By 1901 he was a boarder at a small private school in the village of Soulby , Kirkby Stephen , Westmoreland . He enlisted with the 18th Royal Hussars in 1908 , but he bought himself out and resigned in December 1909 for the sum of £18 . In 1911 he was working as a farm Labourer at Fordingham Grange , North Fordingham Yorkshire . World War I . He re - enlisted on 8 August 1915 ; the army refunded half ( £9 ) of the money he had bought himself out with in 1909 . Serving in France he was awarded the DCM on 5 August 1915 and was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in September 1915 and made a Lieutenant in May 1916 He lost a leg serving at Ypres in 1915 , commanding an infantry section holding a trench against repeated German counter - attacks . For this action he was awarded the Military Cross in October . Extraordinarily , he joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 , following his recovery . On 12 March 1918 , Carlin was seconded from the Royal Engineers to the RFC . After serving as an instructor at the Central Flying School , he was posted in May 1918 to No . 74 Squadron RFC flying S . E . 5As , where he earned his nickname ' Timbertoes ' . Carlin is recorded as an ace balloon buster , with 5 balloons downed ; he was also an ace against aircraft , with 4 machines claimed destroyed , and one aircraft ' Down out of control ' . His exploits earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross . On 9 August 1918 Lieutenant Carlin was promoted to temporary captain . In early September he was involved in a mid - air collision with his commanding officer , major Keith Caldwell , but was relatively unscathed . On 21 September Carlin was shot down over Hantay by " Uzz . " Siegfried Westphal of Jasta 29 and taken Prisoner of War . He was repatriated on 13 December 1918 and admitted to the RAF Central Hospital on Christmas Day 1918 . Carlin relinquished his commission on " account of ill - health contracted on active service " on 7 August 1919 . and retained the rank of Lieutenant . Inter War Years . On 1 January 1924 Carlin was promoted from Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader . Nevertheless , in 1924 , Carlin departed Britain for Mombasa aboard the SS Madura . He was listed on the passenger list as an " Agriculturist " . He farmed for some years in Kenya . From 20 May 1931 to 8 August 1935 Sidney Carlin Esquire served as the Justice of the Peace for Kisumu - Londiani District Kenya . World War II . On reenlistment to the RAF he was graded as a probationary Pilot Officer on 27 July 1940 . He made Pilot Officer in September 1940 , flying as an air gunner in Defiant aircraft with No . 264 Squadron RAF and later No . 151 Squadron RAF . He also made several unofficial trips as an air gunner with No . 311 ( Czech ) Squadron , flying Wellingtons . Carlin was injured in action at RAF Wittering during an enemy bombing raid on 7 / 8 May 1941 , and died in Peterborough on 9 May 1941 . He is memorialized on the Screen Wall , Panel 1 , Hull Crematorium .