John Freeborn

Blunt and with a sparkling, pugnacious humour, John was fiercely proud of his roots. He would tell anyone who asked, and many more besides, that Yorkshire deployed more of his Battle of Britain comrades than any other county.

John was born in Middleton, south Leeds, now a dense suburb but then a village surrounded by fields. His father was a manager with Yorkshire Penny Bank, and the family soon moved up to Headingley.

John earned a place at Leeds Grammar School, but was too much an independent spirit to settle easily into the school's regimented system. He left at 16.

After he joined the RAF in 1938, he took his plane over the school, treated the boys to an aerobatic display and landed on the cricket pitch – with permission.

Even among the Few, this cocky grammar-school boy stood out for his tenacity, endurance and skill in the air. But his introduction to combat was disastrous and ended in tragedy.

On September 6, 1939, only three days into the war, he was scrambled to intercept incoming German planes off the Essex coast. Coming up behind the targets, he was given the order to fire – but the report was mistaken: the only aircraft in the sky were British. John's deadly accuracy had shot Hurricane pilot Montague Hulton-Harrop in the head.

He was exonerated in the ensuing court martial, but he never got over Hulton-Harrop's death. In 2009, he told the BBC: "I think about him nearly every day. I always have done...I've had a good life, and he should have had a good life, too."

He was soon back in action with 74 "Tiger" Squadron defending the Dunkirk evacuation. But that paled next to the following pivotal moment in the life of the man and his country, the Battle of Britain.

The squadron flew relentlessly during that time. In one eight-hour period, its pilots flew into combat four times, destroying 23 enemy aircraft – three by John – and damaging 14 more.

Five "kills" denoted an Ace and by the Battle's end, John had seven to his credit and won the DFC.

An editorial Leader in the Yorkshire Post commented: "This young man belongs to a great company of others who like him possess the stuff, the initiative, that will smash their regimented opponents. It is not beside the point that this particular one bears the name of Freeborn. So are they all free born – and they know and cherish the fact."

Six months later, he'd earned a second DFC.

Following the exhausting intensity of the Battle of Britain, John was taken off the front line so as to train new air crew.

On one occasion a faulty Spitfire had been landed by a trainee at Ringway airfield in Manchester and John was dispatched to collect it.

Although it was to be returned south-west to Hawarden, near Chester, John chose to come north-east via Headingley. He flew low over his parents' Broomfield Crescent home, and gave a flamboyant display over the house where his fiance Rita lived. Unsurprisingly, this irregular use of aircraft did not go unnoticed by Training Command and, not for the first time, John was reprimanded.

Following America's entry into the war at the end of 1941, John was posted to the US to train pilots and test fly new aircraft.

In 1943 he was back in the UK, and flying Spitfires again. This time he was with 602 Squadron escorting bombing raids on German installations on the European coast. In June of that year, he belatedly got a command, flying escort missions with 118 Squadron.

He was soon promoted again to become the RAF's youngest Wing Commander and spent the first six months of 1944 commanding 286 Wing, one of the largest in the RAF, based at Grottaglie in the south-east Italy. This was a period of frenetic activity, attacking German installations and convoys in the Balkans and defending Allied ones in Italy.

In 1946, convinced that the RAF had fallen into the hands of "nincompoops", he elected to leave the Service.

In civilian life, John qualified as a driving instructor, but took a position with Tetley Walker as regional director for their Minster soft drinks brand.

He took early retirement to care for Rita. She died in 1980, and in 1983 he married his second wife Peta and lived in Spain. Following her death in 2001, he returned to England.

Although in demand as an interviewee and event guest, several factors – not least his consideration for the relatives of Montague Hulton-Harrop – prevented him from putting his stories on record.

However, he relented 10 years ago and talked at length to war historian Bob Cossey for a biography, A Tiger's Tale. This led to John co-writing a subsequent book, Tiger Cub, which he regarded as the definitive version of his time in service.

He is survived by his daughter Julia. The funeral takes place on Tuesday, September 7, at Southport Crematorium at 3pm.