Albert Gerald Lewis

Albert Gerald Lewis, (10 April 1918 – 14 December 1982) was a South African fighter pilot and fighter ace who scored an ace in a day during the Battle of Britain, later being featured in a Life magazine article about the Battle of Britain.

Early life Born in Kimberley on 10 April 1918, Lewis attended Kimberley Boys' High School.

Royal Air Force career Lewis joined the Royal Air Force when he was 20. He flew with No. 616 Squadron at the outbreak of hostilities as a ferry pilot. He was confirmed in his pilot officer rank in November. He then moved to No. 504 Squadron, flying Hurricanes. He then moved to No. 85 Squadron in France in April 1940. On 19 May he shot down five enemy aircraft before he was himself shot down over Lille.

In June 1940 Lewis was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation, published in The London Gazette, read:

On 18 August 1940 Lewis probably destroyed a Bf 110 and on the 31st a Bf 109.

Overseas service Lewis volunteered for overseas service and was posted to No. 261 Squadron in January 1942. Via Sierra Leone he went to Trincomalee in China Bay, Ceylon to take command of No. 261 Squadron.

On return to Britain he was made Chief Flying instructor at Tealing in Scotland and then went to No. 10 Group HQ at Box in Wiltshire in 1944–45. He left the Royal Air Force in 1946, having been an acting squadron leader since 22 April 1943. His final tally was 18 kills.

After the war After the war Lewis went to the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. In 1947 he returned to South Africa and in 1951 joined the Tobacco Research Board in Southern Rhodesia. In 1953 he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (Mormons) and during 1953–55 he studied in the United States, but returned to farm in England in 1957.