Robert Francis Thomas Doe, DSO, DFC & Bar (10 March 1920 – 21 February 2010) was a British fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.
[2] He started school at age seven years, relatively late, probably as a result of suffering from rickets and a family move to Walton-on-the-Hill.
[2] Doe joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) in March 1938 and made his first solo flight on 16 June 1938.
[3] After applying for a short service commission, Doe joined the Royal Air Force in April 1939.
On 10 October, in combat over Warmwell, Dorset with some Bf 109s at 12:00, his plane was critically damaged and he was wounded in the leg and shoulder.
Doe bailed out, landing on Brownsea Island while his Hawker Hurricane crashed near Corfe Castle viaduct on what is now part of the Swanage Railway.
Admitted to Poole Hospital on 22 October 1940, Doe was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and received a Bar a month later on 26 November.
Doe was taken to Park Prewett Hospital where he underwent 22 operations by pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon Harold Gillies.
On 9 June 1943 Doe went to the Fighter Leaders School at RAF Milfield and then joined No.
[7] In October 1943 Doe was posted to Burma as the activities on the Western Front changed from defence to attack in preparation for Operation Overlord and the invasion of Normandy; while in the East, the Japanese Army was still advancing on key British Empire assets, including India.
[8] In September 1946, Doe returned to the UK, where he held several staff positions.