1916 as a fighter pilot with No. 54 Squadron, the first RFC unit to fly Sopwith Pups. The squadron began operations the following month. On 14 February 1917, Fairbairn and nine others were assigned to escort a reconnaissance mission over the German lines between Cambrai and Saint-Quentin. He broke off from the formation due to an engine failure and was pursued by German planes, eventually being forced into a crash landing. He had attempted an Immelmann turn but was unable to regain lateral control, forcing the aircraft into a spiralling vertical descent. Upon landing, Fairbairn immediately set the plane on fire to avoid capture, but was unable to free himself and had to be rescued by German troops. He sustained severe facial burns from the fire, in addition to a bullet wound to the right elbow that was assessed as inoperable and left him permanently impaired. Taken as a prisoner-of-war, Fairbairn spent time in France and the Netherlands before being sent to Switzerland to convalesce. He was exchanged for a German prisoner in April 1918 and continued his recovery at a hospital in London. His injuries entitled him to a small Royal Air Force pension. Post-war life and early political involvement Fairbairn returned to Australia in December 1919. He moved to Central Queensland to run his family's station at Peak Downs. He married Daisy Olive "Peggy" Forrest in Melbourne in 1923, and the following year they acquired a grazing property at Mount Elephant, in the Western District near Derrinallum. The couple had one son and one daughter together. Their property of initially carried 3,000 sheep, but by 1934 had expanded to 10,000 sheep and 350 cattle, which Fairbairn attributed to the introduction of superphosphate. He was one of the first to cross Southdowns with Corriedales and represented the local district with the Graziers' Association of Victoria. Through family and school connections, Fairbairn acquired seats on the boards of the Union Trustee Company of Australia and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. He stood unsuccessfully for the Hampden Shire Council in 1924, losing to his future cabinet colleague Geoffrey Street. He was successful in a second attempt in 1930, but served only a single term before retiring. Fairbairn retained a keen interest in aviation, building a private airstrip on his property. In April 1931 he purchased a secondhand de Havilland DH.60 Moth, which he crash-landed near Camperdown in March 1932 while