smother the flames with a canvas cover. With the fire out, he stuffed the cover into the hole from which fuel from a damaged petrol line had leaked and exacerbated the fire. Ward, now exhausted, made his way back to the astrodome with the navigator, Sergeant Joe Lawton of the RNZAF, keeping tension on the rope tethered to Ward and assisting him back into the aircraft. Although the cover shortly blew away by the slipstream, the fire had burnt itself out and the plane was now safe. Instead of the crew having to bail out, the aircraft made an emergency landing, without flaps or brakes, at Newmarket. The Wellington ran into a hedge and fence at the end of the runway and was written off. Ward described his experience out on the wing of the aircraft, exposed to the slipstream, as "...being in a terrific gale only worse than any gale I've ever known". To recognise Ward's courage, the commander of 75 Squadron, Wing Commander Cyrus Kay, recommended him for the Victoria Cross (VC). Instituted in 1856, the VC was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on military personnel of the British Empire. Kay also recommended Widdowson for the Distinguished Flying Cross and Sergeant Allan Box for the Distinguished Flying Medal. Box, a New Zealander, was the tail gunner of Ward's aircraft and had shot down the night fighter. The awards for Widdowson and Box were immediately approved while Ward's VC was announced on 5 August. The citation for Ward's VC was published in the London Gazette and read: Ward's VC was the first of three made to New Zealand airmen during the war; the others awarded were to Squadron Leader Leonard Trent, a bomber pilot, and Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg, a pilot with Coastal Command. According to Clifton Fadiman, a compiler of anecdotes, Ward was summoned to 10 Downing Street soon after the announcement of his VC, by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The New Zealander was apparently awestruck by the experience and was unable to answer the Prime Minister's questions. Churchill regarded Ward with some compassion. "You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence," he said. "Yes, sir," managed Ward. "Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours," said Churchill. Ward had a period of leave after receiving his VC. Hector Bolitho, a New Zealander in the Royal Air Force Volunteer