In 2001 the citizens of Leeds, England, erected a bronze statue in honor of Acting Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron, an RAF bomber pilot and Leeds' only World War II Victoria Cross winner. Unveiled by the last survivor of Aaron's crew, the statue depicts the pilot standing beside a tree, up which climb three children, representing the generations that have enjoyed freedom because of his and others' sacrifice. "In appalling conditions he showed the greatest qualities of courage, determination and leadership," Aaron's VC citation reads, "and though wounded and dying, he set an example of devotion to duty which has seldom been equaled and never surpassed." In March 1941 Aaron was a student on scholarship at Leeds School of Architecture when he became one of 23 founding cadets of the Leeds University Air Squadron. He trained as a pilot at the No. 1 British Flying Training School in Terrell, Texas, earned his pilots wings in June 1942 and subsequently joined the No. 218 "Gold Coast" Squadron at RAF Downham Market airfield in Norfolk.
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