He succeeded Leonard Cheshire as commander of the famous 617 Squadron and with six gallantry decorations to his name, remains one of the most distinguished airmen in the history of the nations of the British Commonwealth.

On 10 February 1941, he led the aircraft involved in Operation Colossus flying from Malta to drop paratroops in southern Italy.

[11] In March 1944, he became base operations commander at RAF Waddington where he continued to fly missions with RAAF Avro Lancaster crews despite holding a non-flying job.

Tait was awarded a bar to his DFC for pressing home a low-level attack in a daylight raid on the Kembs Barrage in Alsace against fierce defensive fire despite having a damaged aircraft.

Flying from an airfield at Yagodnik, near Arkhangelsk on the Kola Peninsula in northern Russia, they attacked the German battleship Tirpitz, in the Kaa Fjord.

Despite smoke obscuring the target, the Tirpitz was so severely damaged the German High Command (OKW) decided the ship could not be restored to seaworthiness.

Tait led his force in a second attack on 28 October named Operation Obviate, this time from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland (the ship's move having brought her within range).

The Luftwaffe failed to intercept the British bombers, and three direct hits by Tallboy bombs left the ship capsized west of Tromsø, in the bay of Håkøybotn.

In mid-December 1944, Tait, having completed 101 missions, was grounded and assigned to train Canadian bomber crews.

The citation for this award, published in the London Gazette January 1945, reads: This officer has displayed conspicuous bravery and extreme devotion to duty in the face of the enemy constantly exemplified over a long period of operational flying.

He has completed a very large number of sorties, many of them against most dangerous and difficult targets, and the successes obtained are a magnificent tribute to his brilliant leadership and unsurpassed skill.

By his outstanding skill and leadership, Wing Commander Tait played a prominent part in the success of this operation.

[19] He retrained as a computer programmer, and joined ICL as a technical representative, working in Eastern Europe.