{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} {{Short description|British WWII flying ace}} {{Infobox military person |name = Peter Vigne Ayerst |image = Peter Ayerst.jpg |image_size = |alt = |caption = Ayerst in 1939 |nickname = |birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1920|11|04}} |birth_place = Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex |death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2014|05|15|1920|11|04}} |death_place = |burial_place = Canterbury, Kent |allegiance = United Kingdom |branch = Royal Air Force |service_years = |rank = Wing Commander |service_number = |unit = No. 73 Squadron |commands = |battles = Second World War |awards = Distinguished Flying Cross |relations = |other_work = }} '''Peter Vigne Ayerst''', DFC (4 November 1920 – 15 May 2014) was a Royal Air force officer and flying ace of the Second World War.<ref name="bbcnews2010">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8653349.stm|title=Pilot is reunited with his WWII Spitfire in London|date=30 April 2010|publisher=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref> He was the last surviving No. 73 Squadron pilot and test pilot from Castle Bromwich Aerodrome.
==Early life== Ayerst was born on 4 November 1920 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. He was educated at Westcliff High School for Boys, a state grammar school in his home town.<ref name="obit - Times">{{cite news|title=Wing Commander Peter Ayerst|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4134716.ece|access-date=30 June 2014|work=The Times|date=30 June 2014}}</ref>
==Military career== Ayerst was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 14 December 1938 as an acting pilot officer on probation.<ref name="LG 27 December 1938">{{London Gazette |issue=34583 |date=27 December 1938 |page=8249 }}</ref> In August 1939, he was posted to No. 73 Squadron to fly Hurricanes.<ref name="locallondon2008">{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/2277547.two_generations_join_in_the_air/|title=Two generations join in the air|date=16 May 2008|newspaper=Evening Standard|accessdate=8 September 2012}}</ref> He was regraded to pilot officer on probation on 3 September 1939 and his commission was confirmed on 6 October 1939.<ref name="LG 10 October 1939">{{London Gazette |issue=34705 |date=10 October 1939 |page=6796 }}</ref>
He was sent to France with the squadron and scored his first victory in April 1940. After a spell instructing, when he shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 medium bomber with two other pilots, he had postings with both Nos. 145 and 243 Squadrons.
In July 1942 he went to North Africa with No. 33 Squadron,<ref name="locallondon2008" /><ref name="googlebooks">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYfYGwAACAAJ&q=Peter+Ayerst|title=Spirit of the Blue: Peter Ayerst: A Fighter Pilot's Story|date=1 October 2005|isbn=9780750942539|accessdate=8 September 2012|last1=Thomas|first1=Hugh|last2=Henshaw|first2=Alex|publisher=History Press Limited }}</ref> before being promoted to flight commander with No. 238 Squadron, both postings with further combat success. After a period in South Africa, he returned to the UK, joining No. 124 Squadron flying Spitfire Mk VIIs in defence of the invasion ports, where he scored his final victory; then flew Spitfire Mk IXs on bomber escorts to Germany. He later became a Spitfire test pilot at Castle Bromwich with the instruction of Alex Henshaw. In November 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36805 |date=21 November 1944 |page=5341|supp=y }}</ref>
Ayerst's final victory tally stood at five aircraft destroyed, two of which were shared with other pilots, one aircraft probably destroyed, three damaged and two further destroyed on the ground.<ref>{{cite book|title=Aces High|last1=Shores|first1=Christopher|last2=Williams|first2=Clive|year=1994|publisher=Grub Street|location=London|pages=102–103|isbn=1-898697-00-0}}</ref> After the war, Ayerst became one of the most highly regarded wartime instructors in the RAF.<ref>{{cite news|last=Berg|first=Sanchia|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8933000/8933372.stm|title=Battle of Britain survival 'a question of luck'|date=21 August 2010|publisher=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref>
==Later life== thumb|Ayerst's grave at Canterbury City Cemetery in 2017 Ayerst was involved in a biography about his military experience tilted ''Spirit of the Blue: A Fighter Pilot's Story''. It was published 2004.<ref name=googlebooks /> He died on 15 May 2014 at the age of 93, and is buried in Canterbury, Kent.<ref>[http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/177359/ayerst AYERST]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8933000/8933372.stm 2010 interview with BBC News] * [https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80029644 2007 interview with Imperial War Museum] *{{IMDb name|5760014|Peter Ayerst}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayerst, Peter V.}} Category:1920 births Category:2014 deaths Category:British World War II fighter pilots Category:People educated at Westcliff High School for Boys Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Royal Air Force wing commanders Category:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Category:British World War II flying aces