Background
Bird-Wilson was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 20 November 1919. His father was a tea-planter in Bengal, and his parents remained in India, sending Bird-Wilson to boarding school.
Bird-Wilson was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 20 November 1919. His father was a tea-planter in Bengal, and his parents remained in India, sending Bird-Wilson to boarding school.
He later went to Liverpool College. On 30 November 1937, having had a few weeks initial officer training, he was granted a short-service commission in the Royal Air Force. In August 1938 he was assigned to Number. 17 Squadron, learning the rudiments of being a fighter pilot in Gloster Gauntlets.
The Squadron was re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes in June 1939.
Ten weeks later, he was flying a Bachelor Swallow out of Royal Air Force Cranwell when he crashed in bad weather. His passenger was killed, and Bird-Wilson was left without a nose.
He was treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe, who offered Bird-Wilson the nose of his choice, and went on to treat many disfigured Royal Air Force pilots during the war. Second World War
In April 1940 he was back on active service, in time to fly Hurricanes for the British retreat from France in the following weeks.
On the morning of 24 September, flying Hurricane P3878 near Chatham, he became the 40th kill of Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland of JG 26.
Baling out on fire, he landed in the Thames and was picked up by a navy boat. Yet again he was hospitalised. In 1941 he went back into service as an instructor at Number.
56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) before seeing action flying Spitfires with Number.
234 Squadron Royal Air Force, participating in raids over northern France. He returned for a spell commanding a unit at Number.
56 OTU later in the year. In 1942 he commanded Number.
152 Squadron Royal Air Force and Number.
66 Squadron Royal Air Force as they led fighter escorts for bombing raids to the northern European coast, moving on to lead Wings in 1943. In 1944 he attended command training in the United States of America at Fort Leavenworth, before returning to action over the Normandy Invasion. He ended the war commanding Number.
1335 Jet Conversion Unit, the first jet unit in the Royal Air Force. After the war
Foreign many years after the war Bird-Wilson held a variety of posts in the Central Flying Establishment.
In 1946 he was given command of the air fighting development squadron. In 1948 he moved to Middle East operations, becoming personal staff officer to Air Chief Marshal Sir John Baker, Middle East Air Force Commander-in-Chief in 1949.
In 1954, Bird-Wilson joined the British Joint Services Mission in Washington. He returned to be Station Commander at Royal Air Force Coltishall from June 1959 to November 1961, then held a post at the Air Ministry from 1961 to 1963, before two years commanding the Central Flying School, followed by a post as air officer commanding Hong Kong in 1965.
After two years, Bird-Wilson took up a post at the Ministry of Technology in 1967.
From 1970 — 1974, his final years of service were spent commanding a training group. He died in 2000.
Bird-Wilson married Audrey Alma Wallace (b 27 May 1923) in 1942. Audrey died in 1991. He was remarried, to Margaret McGillivray Butler, in 1994.