Lionel Rees Group Captain Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees VC OBE MC AFC RAF ( 31 July 1884 – 28 September 1955 ) was a Welsh 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 was credited with eight confirmed aerial victories , comprising 1 enemy aircraft captured , 1 destroyed , 1 ' forced to land ' and 5 ' driven down ' . Rees and his gunner , Flight Sergeant James McKinley Hargreaves , were the only two airmen to become aces flying the earliest purpose - built British fighter airplane , the Vickers Gunbus . Rees also had a keen interest in archaeology . While flying from Cairo to Baghdad in the 1920s , he took some of the earliest archaeological aerial photographs of sites in eastern Transjordan ( now Jordan ) , and published several articles in " Antiquity " and the journal of the Palestine Exploration Fund . He is considered a father of the archaeological studies of this remote area , and a pioneer of aerial archaeology . He was also an accomplished sailor . Early life . The son of an army officer , Rees was born in Plas Llanwnda , Castle Street , Caernarfon in 1884 . Rees attended Eastbourne College before entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich . He was commissioned in 1903 with the Royal Garrison Artillery . In 1912 he learned to fly at his own expense , receiving his Aviator ' s Certificate ( no . 392 ) in January 1913 . By 1913 - 14 Rees was attached to the West African Frontier Force when he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in August 1914 , initially as an instructor at Upavon . He first saw action flying the Vickers Gunbus with No . 11 Squadron RFC in the summer of 1915 , earning a reputation as an aggressive pilot and an above average marksman . Military Cross . Rees was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in 1915 , gazetted as follows . On 28 July he attacked and drove down a hostile monoplane despite the main spar of his machine having been shot through and the rear spar shattered . On 31 August , accompanied by Flight - Sergeant Hargreaves , he fought a German machine more powerful than his own for three - quarters of an hour , then returned for more ammunition and went out to the attack again , finally bringing the enemy ' s machine down apparently wrecked . " By this time he had claimed 1 aircraft captured , 1 destroyed , 1 ' forced to land ' and 5 ' driven down ' . Rees was 31 years old and a Temporary Major in No . 32 Squadron RFC , when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC . Victoria Cross . In the first hours of the Somme Offensive , Rees was on patrol , taking off in Airco DH . 2 No . 6015 at 0555 hours . His attempt to join a formation of " British " machines brought an attack from one of the Germans . He shot up the attacker , hitting its fuselage between the two aircrew . As it dove away , Rees attacked a Roland . Long range fire from three other Germans did not discourage Rees from closing on it ; it emitted a hazy cloud of smoke from its engine from the 30 rounds Rees pumped into it , and it fled . Rees then singlehandedly went after five more Germans . A bullet in the thigh paralyzed his leg , forcing him to temporarily break off his assault . As the shock of the wound wore off , he was able to pursue the German formation leader , which was leaving after dropping its bomb . He fired his Lewis machine gun empty . In frustration , he drew his pistol but dropped it into his DH . 2 ' s nacelle . Meanwhile , the German two - seater pulled away above him . The German formation was shattered and scattered . Rees gave up the futile chase , and returned to base . Once landed , he calmly asked for steps so he could deplane . Once seated on the aerodrome grass , he had a tender fetched to take him to hospital . The valor of his actions earned him the Victoria Cross . Its citation reads : For the remainder of hostilities Rees commanded the Air Fighting School based at Ayr . Post World War I career . In 1919 Rees was honoured with the O . B . E . and in 1920 his home town of Caernarfon made him a Freeman of the Borough . In the 1920s Rees was based in the Middle East with the RAF . He had a keen interest in archaeology , and while flying on the Cairo to Baghdad route during this period , he took some of the earliest archaeological aerial photographs of sites in eastern Transjordan ( now Jordan ) , and published several articles in " Antiquity " and the journal of the Palestine Exploration Fund . He is considered a father of the archaeological studies of this remote area , and a pioneer of aerial archaeology . Rees retired from the RAF in 1931 with the rank of Group Captain . In 1933 he sailed single - handedly across the Atlantic from Wales to Nassau in the Bahamas in a ketch . For this achievement he was awarded the prestigious Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America in 1934 . When World War II broke out , Rees returned to the UK from the Bahamas and once again joined the RAF as a Wing Commander and was posted to command an aerodrome in the Middle East . In December 1942 Rees was invalided out of the RAF and returned to the Bahamas . In 1947 aged 62 , he met and married a young local woman and they had three children , the oldest of whom is Allen Rees . Rees died in Nassau on 28 September 1955 from leukaemia . Selected publications by Rees . Rees wrote under the name ' L . W . B . Rees ' .