Dick Lord, well known as an aviation raconteur, tells a tale of military flying at its very best. He covers, in amusing detail, the life of a carrier pilot in both the Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm and the United States Navy. His unusual career then led to combat in Southern Africa as a Mirage F1 squadron commander. He later rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the South African Air Force.

Brigadier-General DICK LORD was born in Johannesburg where he grew up. He joined the Royal Navy as an air cadet in 1958, where he qualified as a fighter pilot. Flying Sea Venoms and Sea Vixens, he served on board the aircraft carriers Centaur, Victorious, Hermes and Ark Royal on cruises around the world. In the mid ’60s, he was selected for a two-year exchange tour with the US Navy, flying A4 Skyhawks and F4 Phantoms out of San Diego, California. He completed tours of air warfare instruction, flying Hunters out of the naval air stations at Lossiemouth, Scotland and Brawdy, Wales.

He returned to South Africa in early ’70s and joined the South African Air Force (SAAF), flying Impalas, Sabres and Mirage IIIs. During the Border War, he commanded 1 Squadron, flying Mirage F1AZs into Angola, followed by running air force operations out of Oshikati, Windhoek and SAAF Headquarters in Pretoria. He was mentioned in dispatches for his role in the remarkable rescue of all 581 people from the ill-fated liner Oceanos. A highlight of his career was organizing the successful fly-past of 76 aircraft for Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994.

He retired to Somerset West near Cape Town with his wife June. He is also author of Fire, Flood and Ice (to be republished in 2011 as Standby!), his first book, which chronicles some of the SAAF’s spectacular search and rescue operations; Vlamgat—The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force and his latest best-seller, From Fledgling to Eagle—The South African Air Force during the Border War, released in late 2008.