Desmond James Scott; New Zealand’s WWII Ace

Group Capt. Desmond James Scott, 79, New Zealand’s most decorated World War II fighter pilot, who had the rare distinction of being decorated by every country in which he served. He held Britain’s Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar and the Order of the British Empire. He also received the French Croix de Guerre and Palme and the Belgian Croix de Guerre and Palme, and was a commander of the Netherlands’ Order of Orange Nassau. Scott was the youngest group captain in Britain’s Royal Air Force, attaining the rank at the age of 25. He was the only New Zealander to command an RAF mobile wing, four squadrons that moved between bases, during the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. In later years, Scott wrote about his war experiences. His first book, “Typhoon Pilot,” became a bestseller. He followed it with “One More Hour.” In Christchurch, New Zealand, on Wednesday.