Brian John Lister Boyle, DFC (1917-1993) was a South African flying ace of World War II, credited with 5 'kills'. Boyle was commissioned into the South African Air Force in 1938 and in 1940 was posted to

1 Squadron SAAF 1 Squadron SAAF was an air force squadron of the South African Air Force and was formed at Air Force Station Swartkop in February 1920, equipped with De Havilland DH.9's part of the Imperial Gift donation to South Africa by Britain. On 31 August 1 ...

in Eritrea, flying a

Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

. He single handedly engaged 8

Fiat CR.42 The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World ...

's on 6 November 1941 and crash landed injured. He received a DFC for this engagement in January 1942. He returned to South Africa at the end of March 1942 as an instructor. In February 1944 he joined

4 Squadron SAAF 4 Squadron SAAF was a South African Air Force unit which served during World War II. It was resurrected in 1951 and remained active until 1958. Its final period of active service was from 1961 to 1991. Its final aircraft were Impala Mk IIs. It wa ...

, flying the Spitfire Mk. V. Boyle was appointed Officer Commanding in April 1944. He was posted to Headquarters in July 1944 and then on to 4 Air School as Commanding Officer. After the war he remained in the SAAF and retired as a Brigadier. He died in 1993.

References

South African World War II flying aces 1917 births 1993 deaths South African Air Force personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) People from East London, Eastern Cape {{SouthAfrica-mil-bio-stub