Battle of Britain flying ace dies

Yoxford · Post by **Yoxford** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:54 am

One of the Battle of Britain's most successful pilots has died at the age of 89. Surrey-born Wing Cdr Doe died in hospital of pneumonia on Sunday.

Wing Commander Bob Doe, of Crowborough, flew Spitfires during the battle and was one of the RAF flying aces, destroying at least 14 enemy craft.

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his heroics in the sky and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his inspirational leadership.
He was shot down in 1940 and a year later suffered facial injuries and a broken arm when his plane crashed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 530303.stm

456THBG · Post by **456THBG** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:35 pm

Thanks for the post, Yoxford...I'm a big BB "buff", and have a lot of historical info on Bader, Tuck, Malan, Page & Doe (including Robert Taylor prints).
Most of those guys are gone now, but the memory of their heroism lives on through people like you and me who really care about what these & thousands of other aviators accomplished during their careers, however short or long they may have been.

snake · Post by **snake** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:58 pm

Well said 456thBG.

Corgi is releasing a 1/32 scale "Doe" Spitfire this summer.

A shame that Wing CDR Doe did not live quite long enough to see the actual release,but he knew it was being done.

Some of the guys from another forum,got him to autograph the book that he wrote[forget the title],in anticipation of this upcoming release.He was very glad to oblige,but unfortunately passed away just a short time later.

I hope that he was pleased that his Spitfire was being done by Corgi.

RIP Bob Doe.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:25 am

snake wrote:Well said 456thBG.

Corgi is releasing a 1/32 scale "Doe" Spitfire this summer.

A shame that Wing CDR Doe did not live quite long enough to see the actual release,but he knew it was being done.

Some of the guys from another forum,got him to autograph the book that he wrote[forget the title],in anticipation of this upcoming release.He was very glad to oblige,but unfortunately passed away just a short time later.

I hope that he was pleased that his Spitfire was being done by Corgi.

RIP Bob Doe.

The book is called simply "Fighter Pilot" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bob-Doe-Fighter ... 1902074092 It will be interesting to see what the Corgi model looks like, thanks for the heads up.

snake · Post by **snake** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:29 pm

Here is a photo of the Doe Spitfire,courtesy of the Flying Mule.

First Corgi 1/32 scale Spitfire released in a number of years.

http://www.flyingmule.com/products/CG-AA33909

Thanks for posting the book as well,ostketten.

It must be quite special to have a signed copy,especially done just before his death.He also made it "personal',by including the persons name,and a nice comment.