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58 Fleet Air Arm pilots were seconded to the RAF during the Battle of Britain, 12 of them shot down at least one aircraft, five became aces, seven were killed and two wounded. Two of them, Dickie Cork and Jimmy Gardner flew with 242 Squadron RAF. On 1 July 1940, Dickie Cork and two other naval pilots joined the Hawker Hurricane equipped No. 242 Squadron under the command of Squadron Leader Douglas Bader; Cork was assigned to become Bader's wingman.[4][5] On 30 August, he was involved in his first combat action with No. 242 Squadron. The unit claimed 12 aircraft destroyed, and Cork was credited with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 destroyed and a share in a second. By 13 September he had shot down five aircraft and became a fighter ace.[For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 18 October, which at the insistence of the Admiralty was exchanged for a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Cork returned to the Fleet Air Arm after the battle and was posted to 880 Naval Air Squadron. The unit was equipped with the Grumman Martlet, which were exchanged for Hawker Sea Hurricanes by mid-1941. The squadron then joined HMS Furious for attacks on Petsamo and Kirkenes in Arctic Norway. 880 Squadron joined the newly built fleet carrier HMS Indomitable in October 1941, and Cork was promoted to Lieutenant the following month. The squadron was involved with the attack on Vichy French gun positions during the landings at Diego Suarez, Madagascar on 6 May 1942. During these operations Cork claimed three Morane-Saulnier M.S.406s and four Potez 63s, all destroyed on the ground.[12] On 12 August 1942, during Operation Pedestal, he became the only Royal Navy pilot to shoot down five aircraft in one day, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order(DSO). Flying a Sea Hurricane, he shot down a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 over the convoy. Then, flying off the coast of Tunisia, he shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and shared in the destruction of another. Later in the day he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and another Savoia-Marchetti SM.79. In 1944, Cork was given command of the 15th Naval Fighter Wing, comprising three squadrons of Vought F4U Corsairs, on board HMS Victorious. The carrier sailed for the Indian Ocean to join the British Pacific Fleet. After arriving Cork was killed in a flying accident over China Bay, Ceylon on 14 August 1944. His final score was nine destroyed, two shared, one probable, four damaged and seven destroyed on the ground. He was fifth on the table of Royal Navy Second World War aces. He was buried in Tincomolee War Cemetery. Another FAA pilot who joined 242 was Sub/Lt. r E "Jimmy" Gardner. In June 1940 Gardner went to No 7 Operational Training Unit at RAF Hawarden, in north Wales, for an intensive two-week course in flying Spitfires and Hurricanes. Early in July, he and two other naval pilots, Sub Lt Dickie Cork and Midshipman Peter Patterson - neither of whom who also did not survived the war - joined 242 Squadron RAF, flying Hurricanes under the celebrated Douglas Bader. Gardner had an early success on July 10 when 242 were patrolling off Lowestoft. Gardner shared a Dornier Do17 on August 21 and shot down another on September 7. His best day was September 18 when he shot down two Do17s over the Thames Estuary and was credited with a was credited with a "probable". Gardner had the flag hoist of Nelson's "England Expects" signal at Trafalgar painted on the side of his Hurricane. In December he joined 252 Squadron, Coastal Command at Chivenor, north Devon and flew with them until April 1941 when he returned to the Navy, joining 807 naval air squadron flying Fairey Fulmars from the carrier Ark Royal in the Mediterranean. Gardner made four sorties on May 8, sharing an Italian Savoia SM79 and shooting down two Ju87 Stukas. His Fulmar was badly damaged but once again he managed to struggle back and crash-land on Ark Royal. He was awarded the DSC for his service in Tiger. Gardner's final tally as a fighter pilot was six destroyed, four shared and one "probable". After Ark Royal was sunk in November 1941, 807 joined the carrier Argos for convoy duties in the western Mediterranean. In April 1942, Gardner was appointed as an instructor to 760 Squadron, part of the Fleet Fighter School, at HMS Heron Yeovilton. In July 1942, Gardner was CO of 899 squadron flying Fulmars from HMS Greve at Dekheila near Alexandria for Canal Zone Defence. Gardner's long experience as a fighter pilot was now much in demand. In May 1943 he was appointed as CO of 736 Squadron, flying Seafires from Yeovilton at the School of Air Combat, teaching the latest air combat techniques to experienced naval fighter pilots. In September, 736 moved to HMS Vulture St Merryn, Cornwall, to become the Fighter Combat School element of the School of Naval Air Warfare. Gardner remained Chief Fighter Instructor for the School of Naval Warfare until he left the Navy in March 1946. He died at the age of 84. This is my tribute to these brave men and others who fought for our freedom