Corgi AA35501C Hurricane MkI RAF No.249 Sqn, James Nicholson

F/Lt James Nicholson, a Yorkshire man was Fighter Command's only VC, he had won his award flying with No 249 Squadron over Southampton. On August the 16th1940 Nicholson in his Hurricane (P3576) with two other pilots from No 249 Squadron, attacked enemy Messerschmitt 110's near Southampton. The three RAF planes were in turn attacked by Bf 109s. After recovering from his severe burns and other injuries (other injuries included being shot in the buttock's by a trigger happy Local Defence Volunteer as he descended in his parachute), Nicholson returned to flying in April 1941 as a Squadron Leader. Tragically, he went missing while flying as a passenger in a Liberator over the Bay of Bengal on the 2nd of May 1945.