 Plagis stayed with the RAF following the end of hostilities , and from September 1946 to December 1947 commanded No. 266 ( Rhodesia ) Squadron in England and Germany , flying Gloster Meteor <unk> He was awarded the Airman 's Cross by the government of the Netherlands in October 1946 . After retiring from the military with the rank of wing commander , Plagis returned home to Southern Rhodesia in 1948 . A street in the north Salisbury suburb of Alexandra Park had been named after him in recognition of his wartime exploits ; he moved into the house at the end of the road , 1 John Plagis Avenue . He married in 1954 and had three sons and a daughter . 
