October 28th, 2025

James Harry Lacey (GINGER LACEY) was born in February 1917 in Wetherby, Yorkshire, and died in 1989 (aged 72) in Bridlington, Yorkshire, England. Ginger Lacey, DFM & Bar, was one of the top-scoring Royal Air Force fighter pilots of the Second World War and the second-highest-scoring RAF fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain. Lacey was credited with 28 enemy aircraft destroyed, five probables, and nine damaged. Second World War Battle of France On 10 May 1940, the Squadron moved to Bétheniville in France. On 9 June, his aircraft was damaged in combat, and he crash-landed and almost drowned in a swamp. Before the squadron was withdrawn to England on 19 June, Ginger Lacey claimed nearly 60 kills. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre during his operational duties in France with No. 501 based at RAF Gravesend or RAF Croydon. Lacey became one of the highest-scoring pilots of the battle. Ginger Lacey was one of the few RAF pilots who performed operational duties on both the opening and closing days of the war. ​