Basil Medcalf was originally an insurance clerk from Southend-on Sea in Essex. He joined the RAF in early 1941 aged 18. He was shot down in Lancaster ND595 (V-Victor) on the Augsburg raid of 24th February 1944, bailing out over Switzerland. After several months of internment the crew of ND595 were repatriated in an exchange scheme. The full story of Medcalf's crash and repatriation is documented in Chapter 8 of Roger Anthoine's excellent book "Infringing Neutrality - The RAF in Switzerland 1940-45" .