Fighter ace Edgar ‘Cobber’ Kain killed

Known to some as ‘Killer Kain’, the Hastings-born pilot’s exploits flying Hurricanes for the Royal Air Force’s  No. 73 Squadron in the first year of the Second World War made him a household name in Britain. He was the first RAF air ace of the war, and the first to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. During the Battle of France in May/June 1940, he made 17 confirmed ‘kills’.

Given his experiences in battle, how Kain died was cruelly ironic. He had been rested from operations and decided to mark his departure with an aerobatic display over the aerodrome at Échemines, south-east of Paris, on 7 June. He completed two low-level rolls and was attempting a third when he crashed onto the airfield and was thrown from the aircraft. He was 21 years old.

Kain was buried in Troyes cemetery. After the war his remains were moved to the Allied section of the Choloy war cemetery.