Sydney Carlin

Sydney Carlin, nicknamed “Timbertoes,” was born in Hull, Yorkshire, on 24 March 1889. A cavalryman and then Royal Engineer in the First World War, he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Cross on the Western Front, where he lost his left leg to wounds. Undeterred, he transferred to flying and joined No. 74 “Tiger” Squadron in 1918, becoming a fighter ace credited with destroying enemy aircraft and observation balloons; his balloon-busting earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. Refusing to sit out the Second World War despite his artificial leg and age, he re-enlisted in 1940 and served as a Boulton Paul Defiant air gunner with No. 264 and No. 151 Squadrons, flying night-fighter sorties and unofficial trips with No. 311 (Czech) Squadron Wellingtons. He was fatally wounded during a Luftwaffe bombing and strafing raid on RAF Wittering and died on 9 May 1941, aged 52.