Geoffrey Page Alan Geoffrey Page DSO , OBE , DFC & Bar ( 16 May 1920 – 3 August 2000 ) was a British flying ace of the Second World War , and a founding member of the Guinea Pig Club . Early life . Geoffrey Page was born on 16 May 1920 in Boxmoor , England , where his parents split up when he was young . He developed an early interest in aviation , perhaps not surprisingly as he had an uncle who flew in World War I and another was the aircraft manufacturer , Sir Frederick Handley Page . Page was educated at Dean Close School , Cheltenham , and later studied Engineering at Imperial College , where he took advantage of the free Royal Air Force flying training available , and joined the University Air Squadron at Northolt . Second World War . Two weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War , Page received his call - up papers and joined the RAF with the rank of Acting Pilot Officer . After advanced training at Cranwell , Page was assessed as " exceptional " and assigned , against his wishes , to a flying instructor ' s role . However in May 1940 he received a posting to No . 66 Squadron , flying Spitfire s . However , this posting was a blunder by the RAF , and Page was almost immediately reposted to No . 56 Squadron to fly Hawker Hurricanes . On 13 July Page claimed a ' He 113 ' shot down and on 20 July claimed a third share in a recce Ju 88 of 4 ( F ) / 122 , the crew becoming POWs . He next downed an StG . 1 Ju 87 off Dover on 25 July . He was shot down on 12 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain . Flying behind his commanding officer , attacking a large formation of Dornier Do 17 bombers , Page ' s Hurricane ( P2970 ) was hit and caught fire . The fuel tank in front of him spewed burning high - octane fuel into the cockpit , covering Page . His uncovered hands and face were so badly burnt that as he descended in his parachute , he could smell his own flesh burning . Guinea Pig 1940 – 42 . After being picked up from the icy sea in near - mortal agony , he eventually arrived at the Burns Unit at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead , where the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald MacIndoe was rebuilding the bodies of disfigured servicemen . Both of his hands were burnt down to the bone , and his head had swollen to about three times its normal size . Page had also sustained gunshot wounds to both legs . During his time in hospital , Page became a founding member of the Guinea Pig Club , Maclndoe himself was elected life president and Page was the first chairman . Return to operations 1943 – 45 . Due to the burns sustained to both of his hands , it was deemed unlikely that Page would be able to fly again , but due to his hatred of the enemy , determined spirit , and MacIndoe ' s outstanding work during fifteen operations , Page succeeded in first gaining limited - flight permission , eventually achieving full operational status in 1942 . From that moment on , Page vowed to shoot down at least one enemy aircraft for each of the fifteen operations he had to endure . He joined No . 132 Squadron as a supernumerary Flight Lieutenant , before volunteering for service in North Africa . The heat however had an effect on his skin grafts and he returned to the UK . A posting to the Air Fighting Development Unit ( AFDU ) at Wittering followed . There , flying the North American Mustang Mark I , he teamed up with Squadron Leader James MacLachlan , a pilot who . despite losing an arm over Malta in 1941 , had like Page overcome his disability and returned to fly operationally . On one sortie south of Paris on 29 June 1943 , the pair accounted for six enemy aircraft in ten minutes ; three FW 86 aircraft of JG 105 were lost , along with a Ju 88 of KG 6 . Page was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for this action . Another such sortie on 18 July saw MacLachlan shot down and killed . Page returned to hospital for more skin grafts . Later in the year he joined 122 Squadron as a Flight Commander , before re - joining No . 132 Squadron in January 1944 as Commanding Officer . On 29 April he led his squadron to strafe Deelen airfield in Gelderland and attacked a Bf 110 night fighter that was landing . Despite the odds the Bf 110 shot down two Spitfires before Page forced the aircraft down and destroyed it . This night fighter was flown by " Experte " Major Hans - Joachim Jabs of NJG 1 , who survived and met with Page after the war . In September 1944 Page , now Wing Leader of 125 Wing , crashed and was again injured , breaking a bone in his back . Page was again sent back to MacIndoe for a further operation , this time being informed that there was no chance of him ever flying again . By this time Page had already achieved his goal of 15 " kills " ( 10 solo , 5 shared , and 3 damaged ) and had been decorated with the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar . He was later made an Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau by Wilhelmina , Queen of The Netherlands for his part in the Battle of Arnhem . After Page was released from hospital in early 1945 he was sent to the United States of America to lecture on the RAF . Whilst there Page became good friends with the actor Nigel Bruce and his wife Violet , who were later to become his parents - in - law . Awarded the DSO in 1945 , part of his citation read : " Apart from his individual exploits , Wing Commander Page has infused the entire wing with his fighting spirit . Under his command 60 enemy aircraft have been destroyed . " In the spring of 1945 Page underwent further surgery before being attached to Vickers Armstrong as a test pilot . Geoffrey Page returned to England just as Germany surrendered . He took his discharge from the RAF in 1946 with the rank of Wing Commander . Later life . In 1946 , Page married Pauline Bruce ( daughter of British actor Nigel Bruce ) in California with C . Aubrey Smith as his best man . He then commanded No 64 Squadron , flying the DH Hornet , and in 1947 was appointed personal assistant to the senior RAF officer at the UN military staff commission in New York . In 1948 he left the RAF and joined Vickers Armstrong as a sales executive and later became an international aviation consultant based in Switzerland . In retirement , as well as remaining the driving force of the Guinea Pig Club , Page founded the Battle of Britain Trust . This raised more than £1 million , with which the Battle of Britain memorial was erected overlooking the Straits of Dover , to commemorate those who kept Nazi Germany at bay . He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995 for his efforts . Page published his autobiography " Tale of a Guinea Pig " in 1981 , and a revised edition " Shot Down in Flames " appeared in 1999 . Geoffrey Page died on 3 August 2000 , survived by his wife , a daughter and two sons . Page , Geoffrey . " Shot Down In Flames " , Grub Street , ISBN 1 - 902304 - 10 - 1