After the war he returned to Great Britain and the RAF where he reached air rank and twice captained the British Olympic Shooting Team.

[3] Staton began his military service as a private in the Artists Rifles in 1916,[1] a volunteer battalion popular with graduates of Britain's public schools and universities.

[4] Staton passed from the ranks of the Artists Rifles to a cadet's position in the Royal Flying Corps, and was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant (on probation) on 4 May 1917.

Staton was piloting one of the Bristols with Lieutenant Horace E. Merritt as his observer, and he claimed his first two aerial victories.

In all, Staton had four observers fly with him, and all four became aces, though Merritt and Sergeant William Norman Holmes scored most of their victories with other pilots.

[10] Staton received the Distinguished Flying Cross on 21 September 1918; a Bar in lieu of a second award would follow, after the armistice, on 3 December.

[8] Staton remained in the RAF after the war, being granted a permanent commission as a lieutenant (flying officer) on 1 August 1919.

20 Squadron,[1] flying the Bristol Fighter on army co-operation duties in the North-West Frontier province of India.

[1] That year his name was brought to the notice of the Air Council for his gallantry in saving an airman from drowning after a flying accident.

501 (City of Bristol) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, based at RAF Filton, to fly the Westland Wallace.

[27] On the night of 19/20 March 1940 Staton led an attack on the seaplane base at Hörnum, on the island of Sylt,[28] his being the first aircraft to drop bombs on German soil.

[14] This was in retaliation for a German air raid on the naval base at Scapa Flow on 16 March in which four sailors and one civilian were killed, and seven wounded.

[28] On 7 June Staton received a bar to his Distinguished Service Order in recognition of his "outstanding gallantry and leadership in recent air operations", awarded primarily for his part on an attack on an oil depot in Bremen, which he attacked at low level, despite his aircraft having been hit by six shells and badly damaged.

Staton would spend the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese, and would undergo torture for refusing to disclose information to them.

[33] Later he submitted written evidence to prosecutors at the War Crimes Trial of three Japanese officers from camps in Formosa.

[34] On 1 October 1946 he received his second mention in despatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service whilst a prisoner of war in Japanese hands",[35] and in the 1947 New Year Honours was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.

[40] Staton finally retired from the RAF on 12 November 1952 at his own request, in order to facilitate the promotion of younger officers.

[47] Staton's larger than life personality and physical presence gained him the nickname of "Bull" during the First World War, as well as a prominent scar on his head, the result of an over-boisterous mess party.

10 Squadron during the Second World War he was nicknamed "King Kong" by the pilots under his command,[3] and was dubbed "Crack'Em Staton" by the Daily Express after the attack on Sylt.