From Fullarton, in Adelaide, Bungey joined the RAAF in 1936 but after completing his flight training was discharged and accepted on a short service commission in the RAF.

He was due to take command of a fighter wing in the far north of Australia but, distraught and depressed after the recent death of his wife, he shot himself and his son in Adelaide.

After 12 months, his course completed and he was discharged from the RAAF to take up a short service commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

[7] The squadron made several attacks on the advancing German forces in the days following the commencement of the invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, including raids on the bridges across the Albert Canal.

It carried out patrols over the North Sea until returning south to the RAF station at Tangmere as part of No.

Returning to his squadron, Bungey shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber on 9 November; the stricken aircraft was seen to crash near Villaroche.

The knee that he had injured the previous November continued to trouble him and he was taken off operations at the end of the month for medical treatment.

[12][13] He immediately stepped up the training intensity, focusing on air gunnery drills, formation flying practice and night landings.

[12][13] Bungey would subsequently establish a reputation for his leadership and administration skills, reportedly often giving inexperienced pilots the opportunity for easy aerial victories rather than taking them himself.

[4][15] One of his junior pilots at the time, Keith Truscott, later reflected that Bungey "made the Australian Spitfire Squadron".

[16] The citation, published in The London Gazette on 7 October, read: This officer has been almost continually engaged on operations against the enemy since the war began.

Throughout, this officer has displayed gallant and efficient leadership.To the surprise of his family and friends, in October, Bungey married Sybil Johnson, an English woman from Berkshire.

[18][19] The following year his wife travelled to Australia and gave birth to a son, Richard, in March 1942 in Adelaide.

452 Squadron was flying as cover for spotter aircraft directing the firing of the Dover coastal artillery across the English Channel when they were attacked by a large group of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters.

[2][24] In the early afternoon of 10 June, distraught and depressed at the death of his wife, fearful that he would not survive his new posting as a wing commander, and concerned about his ability to care for his son, Bungey took Richard to North Brighton Beach.

[25][26] Bungey was buried alongside his wife in the cemetery at St Jude's Church at Brighton on 12 June, in a well-attended ceremony.

[27] Richard Bungey subsequently recovered sufficiently that he was discharged from hospital care in late July; the injuries he suffered involved nerve damage which meant that he would have a limp for the rest of his life.

In August 2019 he advocated for a memorial plaque for Bungey in the city of Holdfast Bay, near Adelaide, and this was approved in January 2021.