Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette (19 October 1918 – 4 August 1944) was a Canadian-British pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. On 4 August 1944, while piloting an Avro Lancaster in a pathfinder role, Bazalgette and crew flew to Trossy St. Maximin in France to mark a V-1 flying bomb storage cave. Bazalgette's Lancaster was severely damaged by flak prior to arrival at the target and quickly set on fire. Despite the condition of his aircraft, Bazalgette continued to the target and accurately dropped his markers. After completing the task, Bazalgette ordered his crew to bail out, however, two members of the crew were wounded and unable to jump. Rather than saving himself and leaving the two men to die, Bazalgette attempted to land the burning plane to save his two crew members. Bazalgette landed the plane, but it exploded almost immediately upon alighting, killing all three airmen. For his actions, Bazalgette was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Early years Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 19 October 1918 to parents of English and Irish background, Charles Ian Bazalgette (1888–1956) and Marion Edith, née Bunn (1891–1977). His great-grandfather was the civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Bazalgette was always known as "Will" in his family, to distinguish him from his father, who was known as "Ian". Bazalgette began his schooling at the Toronto Balmy Beach School, but his family returned to England in 1927. He grew up in New Malden, England and attended Rokeby School in Wimbledon (1927–1932) and then Beverley Boys Secondary School as well as receiving private tutelage. In his childhood he suffered from poor health, and at 13 was diagnosed with clinical tuberculosis, which required four months of treatment at the Royal Sea-Bathing Hospital, Margate, in 1931. Second World War When the Second World War broke out, Bazalgette enlisted in the Royal Artillery, being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1940. After serving in the Searchlight Section as an instructor, he transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He soloed within a week of beginning his flight training at RAF Cranwell and swiftly completed his ab initio flying by 24 January 1942, given the rank of pilot officer. His first posting was to No. 25 Operational Training Unit (OTU) but by September 1942, he had joined an operational bomber squadron, No. 115 Squadron RAF at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.