Captain Stephen Wynn Vickers joined the Cheshire Regiment in August 1914, but after being badly wounded, he remustered to the RFC (Royal Flying Corps). While other young pilots were killed or injured almost as soon as they got their wings, Captain Vickers survived numerous crash and forced landings. He joined 101 Squadron in 1917, completed 73 sorties over enemy territory before being repatriated in May 1918, and was awarded the newly inaugurated DFC as well as the MC. With the war drawing to a close, he became a flying instructor at an RAF station in Lincolnshire, but he did not live long enough to receive either his medals or the distinction that he deserved.