A SECOND World War fighter ace from Bolton has died, aged 83.

Squadron Leader "Pinkie" Stark was one of the most successful Typhoon fighter pilots during the conflict, and shot down many German fighters.

He joined up in 1943 and flew with the famous 609 squadron, where he scored the squadron's 200th kill since the beginning of the war.

He then joined 263 squadron and flew the Typhoon bomber, where he took part in intensive bombardment of Nazi positions during D-Day.

By the end of D Day Stark had flown 20 times to support British and Canadian armies landing in Normandy.

He was shot down over Brittany, in France on July 3 1944, and he was forced to bail out. He was hidden by the French Resistance from the Nazis and evaded capture with fellow pilots, before he made a daring escape trip back to England.

The former Bolton School student won a Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar.

After escaping from the Germans he took part in active bombing raids over occupied Holland, and the biggest airborne operation ever mounted, Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine in Germany.

After the war, he remained with the RAF as a test pilot, and played a major role in the development of blind landing techniques. He retired as manager of Rochester Airport in Kent.

He died on August 1, and is survived by his brother Roy, who flew Spitfires during the Burma campaign.