‘Sawn Off Lockie’
Flt Lt Eric Stanley Lock DSO, DFC of No 41 Squadron. On 5th September 1940, Lock attacks a Heinkel HE111H of JG53 shooting it down during the Battle of Britain.
Lock earned the nickname "Sawn Off Lockie", because of his extremely short stature. Within less than six months of becoming one of the most famous RAF pilots in the country, he crash–landed in the English Channel after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged by ground–fire. Lock was posted missing in action.
Lock became the RAF's most successful Allied pilot during the battle, shooting down 21 German aircraft and sharing in the destruction of one.