A WARTIME fighter pilot who told a German officer in a PoW camp that he had flown both British and German planes and “ours are best” has died.

Flight Lieutenant Thomas Hughes had been captured after being hit by flak near Monte Cassino.

He was transported to Germany where he was placed in solitary confinement after annoying a visiting general by telling him that: “Having flown both the Messerschmitt 109 and the Spitfire, I can confirm that the Spitfire is the better aircraft.”

Latterly Mr Hughes, who was 89, was a reviewing officer for 220 pilots who graduated from flying training school at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in 2006.

He was born in Rugby in 1921 and joined the RAF as a pilot in 1940 before qualifying as a flying instructor in 1941.

In 1943, he was posted to 72 Squadron and flew Spitfires in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, and during a dog-fight with Messerschmitt 109s his engine unexpectedly cut out and he crash landed in the African desert.

Unsure which side of the lines he was on, he walked back to his aerodrome over the next 20 hours and was flying again two days later.

After being deployed to Sicily following the invasion, Mr Hughes was responsible for translating cockpit switch labels of captured German planes, and flew Messerschmitts against British Spitfires to compare their performances.

During one test flight, a major coolant leak forced him to bail out of the German plane, making him one of the only British pilots whose life was saved by a parachute after jumping out of an enemy aircraft.

He said the best part of the event was the wine he drank in the vineyard he landed in, after he had convinced the Sicilians that he was an English pilot and not German.

After the war he took up electronic design and engineering and worked for AEI and Ronson.

He died after a short illness on December 31 at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, and is survived by his widow Joan, whom he married in 1949. Squadron Leader (retired) Eric Mannings, historian for 72 Squadron, said: “Tom was a true gentleman of the old school and very modest about his flying career. “When asked once what he rated as his greatest achievement, he replied: ‘I married Joan and designed Prince Philip’s electric razor’ – no mention of his combat flying, injuries or imprisonment and experimentation. He will be greatly missed.”