Former Spitfire pilot William Walker, shot down over the Channel during WWII, wrote poetry in memory of his fallen comrades

A former Spitfire pilot thought to be the oldest surviving Battle of Britain veteran, who bailed out of his stricken plane over the English Channel and went on to write poetry to commemorate his fallen comrades, has died aged 99.

Flight Lieutenant William Walker, the London-born son of a brewer, died in hospital on Sunday after having a stroke three days earlier, the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said.

Walker was already 25 when he signed up to the RAF Volunteer Reserve as a trainee pilot in 1938, making him older than many of his Battle of Britain contemporaries.

He remained active and had been due to attend the trust's annual gala dinner last Thursday, the organisation said. His habitual role at the event involved toasting fellow Battle of Britain pilots after reading Absent Friends, one of his poems about the campaign.

Last year, a book of Walker's poetry went on sale to aid a trust appeal to build a learning centre at Capel-le-Ferne in Kent, site of a Battle of Britain memorial. The memorial includes a copy of another Walker poem, Our Wall, which is carved in stone on the edge of the wall carrying the names of those who died.

Richard Hunting, chairman of the trust, described Walker as "warm, engaging and friendly" and much-loved by fellow veterans, family and friends. Hunting said: "He knew how important it was that we continue to tell the story of what he and the rest of 'the Few' did in 1940."

Born in 1913 in Hampstead, north London, Walker had followed his father into the brewing business by the time war broke out. He was called into full-time military service in September 1939 and during the Battle of Britain was based firstly at Leconfield in east Yorkshire and then Kenley, south of London.

On the morning of 26 August 1940, Walker's Spitfire was among a number of British planes sent to intercept a large formation of German bombers, themselves protected by Messerschmitt fighters. Walker's plane was hit and badly damaged and he bailed out over the Channel with a German bullet lodged in his right ankle.

His Battle of Britain Memorial Trust obituary recounts what happened next: "William clung to a shipwreck on the Goodwin Sands before being rescued by a fishing boat, transferred to an RAF launch and brought ashore at Ramsgate, where he was greeted by a large crowd and presented with a packet of cigarettes by an elderly lady. In later life William enjoyed recounting the story of how, as the surgeon prized the armour-piercing bullet from his ankle during his stay at the RAF hospital, Halton, it shot out and hit the ceiling. He kept the bullet as a souvenir."

After recovering from his wounds Walker carried out other duties, such as co-ordinating anti-aircraft protection. After the war he returned to brewing, becoming chairman of Ind Coope's brewery in Burton, Staffordshire.