 After leading No. 126 Squadron on raids into Normandy during the Allied invasion , Plagis took part in many of the attacks on German positions in northern France and the Low Countries that followed over the next few months . He was shot down over Arnhem in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 , but suffered only minor injuries and quickly returned to action . He received the Distinguished Service Order on 3 November for his " <unk> [ ion ] in very many sorties during which much damage has been inflicted on ... [ German ] shipping , radio stations , oil storage tanks , power plants and other installations " . The citation particularly stressed an engagement in which a small group of Allied fighters led by Plagis had taken on a far superior force of enemy aircraft and shot down five of them , Plagis himself downing two . Plagis was described as " a brave and resourceful leader whose example has proved a rare source of inspiration " . 
