Squadron leader Robert Stanford Tuck was one of the best-known RAF aces of the war. He joined the R.A.F. on a short service commission and proved to be such a backward pupil at flying training school that he feared he would be "washed-out" However, when the war began he proved to have an outstanding instinct for air fighting of the kind that distinguished the top aces. Aged twenty four, Tuck fought first with a 92 Spitfire Squadron and subsequently with 257 Hurricane Squadron at Debden.