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Few RAF pilots flew operationally from the beginning to the
end of the Second World War. Fewer still can claim to have experienced
action from Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, El Alamein and
the D-Day landings, to bomber escort duty in the closing days
of the war in Europe. Peter Ayerst is one such man.
Peter joined the RAF in 1938 on a short service commission and
was despatched to France when war broke out. After serving with
legendary fighter ace Douglas Bader, Peter was posted to North
Africa in 1942 where he was forced to crash-land his Hurricane
in a minefield.
Peter flew Spitfires on intruder sorties over France before
and during D-Day, on bomber escort duty against V-weapons sites
and in support of mass daylight raids deep into Germany. Awarded
the DFC in December 1944, he also flew as fighter escort to King
George VI's Dakota. By the war's end, Peter had flown every mark
of Spitfire and Hurricane in the RAF's inventory! This stood
him in good stead after the war when he worked with famous test
pilot Alex Henshaw: he was part of the flight-test crew when
Henshaw rolled a Lancaster. |