serviceyears branch commands death_date allegiance awards battles birth_date nickname rank article_title name
1939-1953 united kingdom no. 549 squadron raf no. 64 squadron raf 234 squadron raf no. 548 squadron raf no. 2001 united kingdom distinguished 's commendation for valuable service flying cross , air efficiency award , queen second world war 20 april 1921 dave squadron leader dave glaser
 '' ' ` ernest derek ` dave ' glaser ''
dave glaser

squadron leader ernest derek ` dave ' glaser dfc ae -lrb- 20 april 1921 - 2001 -rrb- was a british royal air force officer of the battle of britain , and later a notable test pilot .
glaser was the son of a former royal flying corps officer and brought up in hampshire .
he was educated at lancing house and bloxham school , before being accepted for flying training in the royal air force volunteer reserve in april 1939 .
in 1940 , glaser was attached to no. 65 squadron raf , where he flew supermarine spitfires alongside jeffrey quill and franciszek gruszka in the battle of britain .
his plane became known for its nose art , representing the laughing cavalier .
glaser was promoted to flight lieutenant and in july 1940 transferred to no. 234 squadron raf as a flight commander .
it was while serving with no. 234 that he was mistakenly shot down on 13 july 1940 by a royal navy warship off the english south coast .
he was promoted to pilot officer in 1941 .
he became temporary commander of the squadron in october .
he was awarded the distinguished flying cross in august 1942 .
in 1943 , glaser was posted to australia to form and command no. 548 squadron raf , a spitfire squadron stationed at darwin , northern territory .
in the new year of 1945 he received command of no. 549 squadron raf , a spitfire squadron similarly charged with defending darwin against japanese air attack .
in 1946 he was awarded the air efficiency award .
after two years he returned home , was granted a permanent commission and posted to linton-on-ouse , yorkshire .
there he was flight commander of no. 64 squadron raf , a half-strength hornet fighter squadron .
in 1949 glaser passed the empire test pilots ' school and became a test pilot at the royal aircraft establishment .
he became a test pilot with vickers armstrong in 1952 , and was involved in testing and developing planes such as the vickers varsity , vickers viscount and the vickers valiant .
glaser was also involved in testing the bac one-eleven .
in 1979 he became flight operations manager and test pilot instructor of rombac in romania .
in 1983 he retired from british aerospace and worked as a successful aviation consultant .
he had been awarded the military queen 's commendation for valuable service in 1953 , and was rewarded the commendation for civil test flying in 1968 .
