He spent only a short time stationed at Duxford during the Battle of Britain, but it was there, flying alongside Douglas Bader on No 242 Squadron, that Fleet Air Arm pilot ‘Dickie’ Cork opened his aerial combat account. Alas, during 1944, a Corsair crash in Ceylon put paid to this outstanding pilot — and cast over him a shadow that has only now been lifted
Late in life Douglas Bader recalled one of the men who had flown beside him during the Battle of Britain, when leading No 242 Squadron. “Dickie Cork”, he said, “was an exceptional man — courageous and unflinching no matter what the odds. There was none better. When I returned to England from captivity in Germany at the end of the war I was saddened and very surprised to hear, from his father, that Dickie had died in a simple flying accident for which this highly skilled and gallant pilot was held responsible”. It was a surprise many others shared, among them Robert ‘Smiler’ Cunliffe, captain of HMS Illustrious, the ship on which Cork was the wing leader of two Corsair squadrons, fellow veterans and the men he commanded.
As a result, they questioned the findings of a hastily convened board of inquiry and some, including Cunliffe, sought to overturn …
