Squadron Commander Christopher Draper DSC (15 April 1892 – 16 January 1979), was an English flying ace of World War I.

Christopher Draper was born at Bebington on the Wirral in Cheshire, England, into a family of five sons and two daughters.

Unable to afford the £75 fee for pilot training, Draper wrote to his local MP, Joseph Hoult, who was an acquaintance of his father.

On 9 October 1913, with a total of 3 hours 15 minutes of flying experience, he obtained Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No.

After passing the medical Draper joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 27 January 1914 and was commissioned as a probationary sub-lieutenant, RNR.

While flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter with 3 Naval Wing he scored his first four victories while carrying out some of the first strategic bombing missions against German industrial targets.

On 6 June 1917 his aircraft was shot up whilst in action against Jasta 5, before Draper slightly wounded prominent German ace Lt. Werner Voss (with 34 victories at the time), and forced him to land his Albatros D.III.

During the Ludendorff Offensive of spring 1918 the German Army's initial breakthrough and rate of advance was such that Draper was forced to order the burning of 16 of Naval 8's aircraft to prevent them being captured on the ground.

One morning while flying towards the front lines Draper accidentally flew under a bridge while in full view of a large body of troops.

Draper was lucky to survive a crash on 23 March 1920 test flying the BAT Bantam at Hendon.

When the company folded Draper sought an interview with Air Marshal Hugh Trenchard and was granted a short service commission as a squadron leader on 27 September 1920.

[9] Posted to the Central Flying School he led the RAF aerobatic team in the 1921 Air Pageant in July,[10] and then resigned on 6 October.

As a result of this meeting and of Draper's longstanding criticism of the British government's treatment of veterans, he was listed by the Nazi Party as a potential sympathiser.

In 1939, Draper joined the Royal Naval Reserve and was posted to Ford as assistant armament officer before going to Trinidad.

777 Squadron at Freetown, flying anti-submarine duties in Supermarine Walrus, Boulton Paul Defiant and Fairey Swordfish aircraft.

[12] It was a spectacular stunt; the bridge arches were only 40 to 50 feet high; Draper was flying 90 mph and dodged around a ship.

He was arrested, charged with flying too low in an urban area, and assessed a nominal ten guineas court costs.