Cotton was an RNAS World War I pilot who invented the Sidcot suit by mistake, and was also responsible for putting blisters onto the sides of canopies, so that pilots did not have to stick their heads out into the freezing air.

An Australian, who spent a couple of years at Cheltenham College, which is my old school, he then went bush flying in Canada before refining aerial photography prior to the Second World War, spying on Germany. He then ran guns after the partition of India and got involved in oil exploration in Saudi Arabia. He was thoroughly wicked and absolutely fascinating – a combination of James Bond, The Saint and Biggles. His story has been well written up in spite of a sad lack of documentation, due to the shadiness of most of his life, has many splendid pictures and is well worth recording.