Flight Lieutenant David Lord in the fuselage of a Douglas Dakota during a supply drop over Burma, 1943

David Lord was a pilot in the RAF in the Second World War. He flew on operations in North Africa, India, Burma and Holland, where he was killed during Operation Market Garden on 19 September 1944.

David Lord had joined the RAF in 1936. He became a Sergeant Pilot in April 1939, and served initially with 31 Squadron in Lahore in British-rule India, now Pakistan. On 19 September 1944, during the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands, Lord was flying a mission to try and resupply the British airborne soldiers fighting on the ground. His aircraft was damaged by heavy German anti-aircraft fire. Despite his Dakota aircraft having one engine on fire, Lord managed to drop his supplies, but at the end of the run found that there were two containers remaining. Although he knew that one of his wings might collapse at any moment, he returned to make a second run through the anti-aircraft fire to drop the last supplies, then ordered his crew to bail out. A few seconds later, the Dakota crashed in flames with its pilot and six crew members. Only the navigator, Flying Officer Harold King, survived, but was captured and became a prisoner of war. It was only on his release in mid-1945, as well as the release of several paratroops from the 10th Parachute Battalion, that the story of Lord's action became known. Lord was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross on 9 November 1945.