Dying WWII RAF Vet Takes To Skies In 'Final Flight'

A 93-year-old veteran has taken to the skies in a World War Two plane, in possibly his last ever flight.

Sandy Saunders, dressed in flying jacket, scarf and goggles, returned to the air in a Tiger Moth, the same type of plane in which he crashed during a training flight in 1945.

After getting on board the plane he told the BBC:

"It just brings it all back. I wish I were young again."

Saunders, who now has terminal cancer, suffered 40% burns to his face, legs and hands, after escaping from the cockpit before he lost consciousness.

Speaking to the Leicester Mercury, he said:

"I was piloting one of the aircraft in 1945. My co-pilot in the cockpit was killed and I've had that on my conscience ever since. I, as the pilot, was responsible. It is private grief."

"I have four different types of cancer. They've stopped all treatment; it's just a matter of time."

"My wife Maggie is a delight and is looking after me, it is good to have her by my side. I have lived to a ripe old age."

The former GP was given skin grafts by pioneering surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe.

Patients of the surgeon were known as the Guinea Pig Club because of the experimental nature of the surgery.

The club was formed in 1941, comprising badly wounded and burned men, many of whom fought in the Battle Of Britain. 

They were being treated at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead.

With plastic surgery in its infancy, they tried new and untested treatments to aid their recovery.

More - Guinea Pigs Of WW2 Remember Team Who Saved Their Faces