'Figaro' Emblem of Ian Gleed

Flight Lieutenant Ian Gleed flew his Hurricane Mk I throughout the Battle of Britain. He had the wily cartoon cat Figaro, from the Disney film Pinocchio, swatting a swastika, painted on his cockpit door.

On 15 August 1940, Gleed led No. 87 Squadron to intercept a large German force approaching the coast of Dorset, destroying two Messerschmitt Bf 110s and probably a Messerschmitt Bf 109. He went on to fly a Spitfire Mk Vb in Tunisia in 1943 – also with Figaro painted on the door. Cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Dumbo and Pluto were popular cockpit art in the Second World War.