John Colin Mungo-Park, (25 March 1918 – 27 June 1941) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1940, and a Bar to the medal in 1941. Background and early life Born John Colin Park on 25 March 1918 in Wallasey on the Wirral, he was the second son and third child of Colin Archibald Mungo Park and Marion (née Haswell) Park. His sister Linda had been born in 1913, and brother Geoffrey in 1915. Mungo-Park's father, Colin, had joined the British Army at the start of the First World War as a private with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. On 24 October 1918, just seven months after his son's birth, Lance Corporal Colin Park was killed in action during the Hundred Days Offensive. He is buried in the Valenciennes (St Roch) Military Cemetery in France. John Mungo-Park was educated as a boarder at Liverpool College, where he was a successful athlete and sportsman. 'Mungo' had been a family forename for many generations, and he used the surname Mungo-Park from his schooldays onward. The family moved to Bolton in 1934, where a neighbour had a pilot's licence and keen interest in aviation. He and Mungo-Park became firm friends, and it was here that the passion for flying was born. Royal Air Force Mungo-Park joined the Royal Air Force on a short service commission in June 1937 and was made acting pilot officer on 9 August. He was confirmed as a pilot officer on 31 May 1938, and was posted to the Anti Aircraft Co-operation Unit of the Fleet Air Arm at Lee on Solent and then in August 1938 to flying Fairey Swordfish. The day after war was declared in September 1939, Mungo-Park transferred to No. 74 Squadron RAF flying Spitfires from RAF Hornchurch, commanded by Sailor Malan. He was promoted to flying officer 31 December. On 24 May 1940, while No. 74 Squadron were providing cover for the British retreat from France and the Dunkirk evacuation, Mungo-Park was wounded and his Spitfire damaged during an engagement with a Henschel Hs 126, but he managed to recross the Channel and land at RAF Rochford. On 10 July the squadron was engaged a large formation of Dornier Do-17s and their escort of Bf 109s and Bf 110s. Mungo claimed one Dornier, which he