Stan joined the RAF in July 1940 and was assigned to a reconnaissance unit and returning from a mission his aircraft had engine failure, and he baled out over occupied Belgium. After walking for two days he was able to board a train to Brussels where his ability to speak French helped him. Here he met the Resistance who used the Comète Line to smuggle him to a village near the Spanish border. Here his group was discovered by German troops. Despite being in civilian clothes with false papers he, and his comrades, avoided being shot. They were interrogated quite roughly and he spent four months in solitary confinement. Eventually he was taken to a Gestapo prison and later to a POW camp where he faced further interrogation. Near the end of the war he and his comrades were moved to several different camps before eventually being freed in May 1945.

Tom grew up learning about famous flights which influenced him to join the Royal Air Force aged eighteen. As an RAF volunteer reserve, he learnt how to fly Gypsy 1 Moths and Tiger Moth biplanes, and when the war started, he was introduced to Hurricanes and Spitfires. He was sent to Montrose Scotland and learnt to fly Hawker Harts, Hawker Fury’s, and Hawker Audax’s, undertaking training in engines and navigation. Tom went to RAF Boscombe Down to fly in the Battle of Britain as part of the 249 squadron, which earned the Victoria Cross. He lost eight of his squadron who were shot down by the Luftwaffe, and twenty others who were badly wounded. Many the RAF were badly burned due to Hurricane aircraft fuel tanks catching fire. Tom explains the difficulty of attacking from the air in freezing temperatures, chasing flying missiles (V-1's, known as Doodlebugs) and his experiences of bailing out by parachute. After the Battle of Britain, Tom went to the Middle East to reinforce the army. His squadron split in two and as the senior flight commander he led the second group, assisting in the Siege of Malta campaign under intense bombing raids. Tom returned to England after nine months, withstanding torpedo and bombing attacks on the ship home. He later joined the Americans in the 9^th United States Airforce and was a test pilot at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He worked for the British Embassy and was a member of the United Nations. He reflects on the sadness of losing his squadron friends and the joy of meeting his wife during the war and their sixty-seven years of marriage.