John Dundas (RAF officer)

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John Charles Dundas, DFC & Bar (19 August 1915 – 28 November 1940) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and a flying ace in the Second World War. He is credited with destroying 12 enemy aircraft.

Early life
Dundas was born in West Yorkshire into an aristocratic family. He studied at Stowe School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a first-class degree in Modern History. He also studied in Paris and Heidelberg. Dundas worked as a journalist for the Yorkshire Post before the war.

Military service
In July 1938, Dundas joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force as a pilot officer in No. 609 Squadron (West Riding). He trained as a pilot at his own expense. The squadron later switched from bombers to fighters and received Supermarine Spitfires.

World War II
Dundas fought in the Battle of France in May 1940, scoring his first two victories. He continued to fly in the Battle of Britain, claiming nine more German aircraft. For his success, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 9 October 1940.

Final actions and death
By the time of his death, Dundas was credited with 12 aircraft destroyed (plus two shared), four probably destroyed, and five damaged. On 28 November 1940, during a mission over the English Channel, he is believed to have shot down Helmut Wick, the Luftwaffe’s top ace at the time, before Dundas himself was shot down and went missing in the sea near the Isle of Wight. His body was never recovered.

Legacy
Dundas is commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede. A small memorial near Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight marks the place of his last battle. His Spitfire, R6915, is preserved at the Imperial War Museum. His younger brother, Hugh Dundas, also served as a fighter pilot and survived the war. Dundas was posthumously awarded a second DFC on 24 December 1940 for his continued courage and effectiveness in combat.