Richard Hillary was an acomplished Oxford graduate who joined the RAF at the outbreak of World War II. Flying a Spitfire he claimed five confirmed kills before being shot down and badly burned, enduring months of painful surgery to reconstruct his face and hands. Despite the trauma of his experiences, which he described in The Last Enemy, Richard fought to recover enough to be cleared fit for flying, dying in 1943 during night-flying exercises. He is also the author of The Unforgettable Few