(13 March 1922 – 8 September 1995) was a Second World War fighter pilot who later wrote several books including what became the "classic account of the sail-maker's art".

[2] He was educated at Hordle House School at Milford on Sea, Hampshire and then at Felsted in Essex and the Institut de Touraine at Tours, France.

[1] After a tour of operations with the squadron, he joined the Fighter Interception Unit, which made use of the RAF's early experiments with radar, testing the products of the electronic laboratories in combat.

In the development unit, he flew in British (Mosquito and Tempest), American (Black Widow), and captured German (Messerschmitt Me 410) aircraft and used all types of airborne radar.

The citation read:This officer has completed a very large number of sorties and throughout has set a fine example of keenness and devotion to duty.

[7]After the war he served in Singapore, Germany and finally as Assistant Air Attaché to the British Embassy in Paris.

[4] He retired in 1982 to live at Warsash, near Southampton, where he wrote The Complete Crossword Companion, which remains in print and was his biggest earner.