A portrait of air vice-marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson has been donated to the RAF Club in London after being sold by dealer MacConnal-Mason, writes Frances Allitt.
Johnson is considered the most successful RAF pilot of the Second World War, bringing down at least 34 enemy warcraft.
He achieved the record despite missing the Battle of Britain due to a broken collarbone, and his reputation for crediting younger pilots with a victory to boost their confidence means that the true tally is probably higher still.