Pilot's flying log book of Squadron Leader Harold Arthur Cooper Bird-Wilson, 28 September 1937-18 June 1943

Bird-Wilson joined the RAF in 1937, after completing his flying training he was posted to No.17 Squadron. In September 1938, Brid Wilson was involved in a crash and suffered severe facial injuries, undergoing pioneering plastic surgery.

Bird-Wilson participated in the air fighting over Dunkirk in May and June 1940 and flew during the Battle of Britain. On the day his Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted, he was shot down by German Ace Adolf Galland. He baled out into the Thames Estuary where he was picked up by a Royal Navy Motor Patrol Boat and was admitted to the Royal Navy Hospital in Chatham with burns and shrapnel injuries. Bird-Wilson then served as a flight commander with No.234 Squadron from March to August 1941, when he was posted to command No.152 Squadron in April 1942 and then No.66 Squadron in November 1942.