Description

Hardit, who flew into battle high above the trenches of Passchendaele on the hunt for the Red Baron, arrived in England at the age of 14 to attend school.

Young Hardit was a devout Sikh and quick to defend himself when anyone interfered with his turban. He went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford, and played county cricket for Sussex.

When he tried to join up to help in the war effort, he was only permitted to drive ambulances at the front. Instead he planned to join the French air force before a former teacher intervened and the Royal Flying Corps gave Hardit an ‘honorary’ commission as a 2nd lieutenant flying Sopwith Camels.