John Dundas (RAF officer)

John Charles Dundas
Portrait of John Dundas, by Cuthbert Orde
Nickname(s)	Dogs[1]
Born	(1915-08-19)19 August 1915 West Yorkshire, England
Died	28 November 1940(1940-11-28) (aged 25) English Channel, off the Isle of Wight, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1938–1940
Rank	Flight lieutenant
Unit	No. 609 Squadron RAF
Battles/wars	Second World War Battle of France Battle of Britain Kanalkampf Adlertag Battle of Britain Day Channel Front †
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar[2]
Relations	Sir Hugh Dundas (brother)

John Charles Dundas, DFC & Bar (19 August 1915 – 28 November 1940) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War credited with 12 victories.

Born in West Yorkshire as the son of an aristocrat, Dundas was an able student and academic. After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford, he became a journalist and joined a newspaper in his home county. After two years, Dundas tired of life as a reporter and joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) in July 1938, being commissioned as pilot officer in No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron and trained as a pilot at his own expense.

In May 1940 his squadron took part in the Battle of France, during which Dundas claimed his first two victories. Dundas remained with his squadron throughout the Battle of Britain, claiming nine German aircraft shot down. On 9 October he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for 10 victories. At the time of his last battle Dundas had been credited with 12 aircraft destroyed, two shared destroyed, four probably destroyed and five damaged.^[3] During a battle over the English Channel on 28 November 1940, Dundas is believed to have engaged and shot down Helmut Wick, the highest-scoring ace of the Luftwaffe at that time. Moments later Dundas was also shot down into the sea. Both pilots vanished and remain missing in action.