Frank Reginald "Chota" Carey, CBE, DFC & Two Bars, AFC, DFM (7 May 1912 – 6 December 2004) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace who served during World War II.

Born in Brixton, London, Carey was educated at Belvedere School before he joined the RAF in September 1927 at the age of 15 as an apprentice metal rigger.

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 Carey flew defensive patrols over eastern Scotland, where he gained his first successes.

In July 1945 he moved to England as Group Captain Tactics at the Central Flying Establishment until the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945.

[1] Following World War II he spent two years at Staff College, Camberley and continued his career in the RAF until 1958, when he moved to Australia as Air Adviser to the United Kingdom High Commissioner.

The family's finances were in a parlous state and coupled with Frank's poor educational performance, he was prevented from applying to join the RAF immediately.

After serving for one year and improving his technical grade, Carey was posted to RAF Worthy Down near Winchester where he spent most of his time in the workshops rebuilding and servicing Napier Lion engines.

The squadron competed at Sutton Bridge in January 1937 for the Sir Philip Sassoon Flight Attack Challenge Trophy.

From August 1938 to September 1939 the squadron carried our exercises that were consistent with pre-war presumptions that the Luftwaffe would attack across the North Sea with unescorted bombers.

As the Germans defeated Poland, the Western Allies adopted a defensive posture and the period September 1939 – April 1940 was known as the Phoney War.

On 29 January 1940 Flight Lieutenant Caesar Hull led a section of 43 Squadron to intercept an unidentified aircraft caught on radar.

As they crossed the English Channel at 05:30 GMT, they were directed to a Ju 88 which they chased to the Dutch border without success and returned to England to refuel.

The squadrons of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) possessed self-sealing fuel tanks, armoured protection for the pilot, and more powerful radio crystals.

Later that day Carey conducted a lone patrol to Lille and Douai and spotted three unescorted He 111s but all were shot down by another squadron before he could get into position.

[17] 3 Squadron lost Flying Officer D. Ball who was probably shot down by a Bf 109 from Jagdgeschwader 21 and died of his wounds in a German hospital.

While leading a section of Hurricanes over the front, Carey spotted a lone Westland Lysander and flew down to it to show the pilot they were friendly fighters.

After days of inactivity and confusion as the Allied forces collapsed, Carey and the other personnel found a serviceable Bristol Bombay transport at a nearby airfield and flew it back to RAF Hendon from Nantes on 7 June.

[31][b] In his combat report, Carey stated that he followed his victim down through cloud and observed oil and wreckage on the water—but this was probably Simpson's Hurricane.

The armada swept through a gap in the barrage balloon defence and damaged the naval base, railway yards and fuel storage tanks which killed 96.

On 7 September 1940 Frank was lunching with other pilots at Tangmere's mess that afternoon while the Adjutant took pictures of the semi-formal gathering sitting in deck chairs and drinking from tankards.

On 26 June 1941 Carey participated in a mock dogfight with the then unknown future American aces Hubert Zemke and later John R. Alison to test the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

Most of the squadron boarded transport ships on 6 December the day before the Empire of Japan attack on Pearl Harbor, which started the Pacific War and brought the United States into the conflict.

At Free Town, Sierra Leone, Carey boarded a Douglas DC-2 and flew to Takoradi in Ghana with the senior staff, leaving the rest of the squadron to sail on.

By the third week of January 1942, Hong Kong had been captured by Japanese forces and the British Army was edging towards a disastrous defeat in the Malayan Campaign.

The newer Hurricane Mk IIAs, equipped with twelve machine guns, offered an improvement in gunpower to the previous variants.

He sent the young pilot back with the Moth while he completed his journey in the Victoria, now crammed with the families of Indian Army officers fleeing the Japanese advance.

On 11 September 1942 Carey was flying a high altitude patrol at 25,000 feet when his engine failed and force landed back at the airfield.

When arrived back in India on 27 September began training personnel in tactics with these aircraft so would be able to use them to the full advantage in gaining air superiority over the Japanese in the upcoming fighting in Burma In December 1943 Amarda Road became the training school for the RAF Third Tactical Air Force established on 28 December.

[64] Carey returned to England in 1947 to divorce his first wife and marry army nurse Bertha Kathleen Walters Jones, known as Kate.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 June 1960 on his retirement from the RAF and worked for Rolls-Royce Aero Division in Australia.