#OTD May 1940, No 92 Sqn Leader Roger Bushell was leading his 2nd offensive patrol of the day over France when he and his 12 Spitfires engaged over 40 enemy aircraft. In the ensuing dogfight, Roger managed to shoot down two Me 110s.

However this was to be his first, and his last true taste of aerial combat with the Germans during #WW2.
Roger’s aircraft was raked by fire from a third enemy fighter and as the sun set on 23 May it had certainly proved a mixed day of emotions for No 92 Sqn...

They had badly mauled the enemy, shooting down 23 aircraft, but it had come at a price, the loss of 4 of their own inc. that of Bushell. Roger survived the crash with his Spitfire coming down near Calais behind enemy lines where he was captured by the Germans, becoming a POW...

He was to prove a constant thorn in the side of the Germans and since being shot down, he managed to escape 3 times, including spending 8 months with the Czech resistance in Prague. His most well know escapade was his role in orchestrating the mass breakout of Allied airmen...

from Stalag Luft III as ‘Big X’ in March 1944, which as we all know has been immortalised in the classic Hollywood film - The Great Escape.

(: IWM HU 1605, Aircrew Remembered, Wiki, BAMF Style)