Brigadier General Robin Olds

The son of Major General Robert C Olds, who played an important part in the development of US Army Air Corps bomber tactics during the 1930s, Robin was born on 14 July 1922 during his father's service in Hawaii. With his family background, it is not surprising that Robin chose an Air Force career, attending the US Military Academy at West Point and receiving a commission as a Second Lieutenant in June 1943 and went to serve in World War II as a fighter pilot. He was assigned to the P-38 Lightning equipped 434th Fighter Squadron (FS)/479th Fighter Group (FG) in February 1944. The last of fifteen fighter groups sent to the Eighth Air Force in England, the 479th commenced operations from Wattisham, in Suffolk, in late May 1944.

Robin Olds' first successes occurred on 14 August 1944, when he shot down two FW-190s that he had encountered at low level over France after becoming separated from his flight during a dive-bombing mission - these were the Group's only kills on this date. He was awarded three strafing victories four days later, and then on 25 August he became the 479th's first 'ace' when he downed a trio of Bf 109s over Rostock. One of only eight pilots to claim five or more kills in the P-38 with the Eighth Air Force, Olds was also the 479th's sole Lightning 'ace'.

In September 1944, the Group converted to the P-51 Mustang and Olds claimed his first victory in his new Mustang on 6 October - a FW 190 - during an escort mission in the Berlin area. He was then starved of opportunities to add to his score until February 1945, by which time he had been promoted to the rank of Major. During the course of the month he claimed three Bf 109s and a FW-190 destroyed in the air and a Do 217 and another FW-190 destroyed on the ground. Continuing his success into March, Olds shot down a FW-190 and a Bf 109 on the 19th and was also made Commanding Officer of the 434th Fighter Squadron. Claiming his final aerial kill of the war (a Bf 109) on 7 April, he also damaged an Me 262 on this day. His final successes in Europe came nine days later when he was credited with five strafing kills during an attack on Reichersberg airfield.

By the end of WWII, he had flown 107 combat missions, had twenty-four V2 combat kills, of which thirteen were air-to-air engagements, reached the rank of Major and commanded a squadron.

Robin remained in the Air Force and was given command of the RAF's No. 1 Squadron (then equipped with Meteor IVs) during a six-month exchange tour in 1949. Having achieved the rank of Colonel in 1953, he returned to England again in August 1963 to take command of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Bentwaters in Suffolk, flying F-101 Voodoos until July 1965, when the wing converted to F-4C Phantom IIs.

In 1966, when the Vietnam War had come to the front burner, he took command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Ubon, Thailand. He flew 152 combat missions in the Vietnam War, 115 of them over North Vietnam. He is credited with destroying two MiG 21 fighters and two MiG 17s. Robin Olds was promoted to Brigadier General in May 1968 and became the Commandant of the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. He retired in 1973.

Alexander Adolphus Dumfries Henshaw was born on 7 November 1913, the son of a wealthy Lincolnshire businessman. Early in his life, he showed the courage and daring which were to stand him in good stead in his air racing and test pilot careers when he rescued a youth from a fast flowing river. For this, he was presented with the Royal Humane Society Award.

He showed an early affinity for engineering and arrangements were made for him to take up an apprenticeship with Rolls Royce. Before starting his apprenticeship however, he worked for a time as a salesman for one of his father's businesses and proved so successful at this that he never took up his apprenticeship.

His passion for flying began whilst he was still a teenager and he learnt to fly in a Gypsy Moth, soon acquiring a Moth of his own. At the age of only 19, he won the 1933 Kings Cup and began,his air racing career in earnest.

In 1937, Henshaw acquired a Percival P6 Mew Gull and in 1938, won the, King's Cup with the fastest time of 236.25 mph. The following year, he concentrated his efforts on an attempt to beat the existing records for the point-to-point London to Cape Town flight. Henshaw flew from London to Cape Town, a distance of 6,377 miles, in 39 hours and 23 minutes, smashing the previous solo flight record by 39 hours and 3 minutes. It took him just 39 hours and 36 minutes to complete the return journey, again breaking the existing solo record by a staggering 66 hours and 42 minutes.

In February 1940, Alex Henshaw married Barbara, Countess de Chateaubrun and Barbara, along with the Mew Gull and the Spitfire, were to be the three greatest influences in his life. It was also about this time that Henshaw met Jeffrey Quill, the Supermarine test pilot with whom he was to develop a close and lifelong friendship. When Quill offered Henshaw a job at Supermarine, he took it with alacrity and moved to Castle Bromwich as the Chief Test pilot. During his time there, from 1940-46, Henshaw flew over 3,000 aircraft from the Spitfire to the Lancaster.

After the war, Henshaw worked for two years in Johannesburg as a Director of Miles Aircraft SA Ltd. On his return to Britain, he subsequently became involved in a range of family businesses. In 1953, he was cited for heroism for his part in the rescue of many members of his community when tide and storm surge conditions resulted in massive floods.

Henshaw has written two books on his experiences - The Flight of the Mew Gull tells of his epic and record breaking flight from London to Cape Town and back in February 1939 and with his early life and experiences as a young aviator. Sigh for a Merlin deals with Henshaw's experiences as Chief Test Pilot at Castle Bromwich, the largest factory producing Spitfires and Lancaster bombers during the war.

Now retired and living in Newmarket, Henshaw is a Past President of the Spitfire Society and, in 1997, was presented by HRH Prince Philip with the inaugural Jeffrey Quill Award for his services to aviation.

Typical of someone who has lived life in the fast lane, Alex, at 89 years old, blasted off home after the show in his Audi Quattro!