I have noticed a couple of letters about naming a street after a former wartime pilot, Bob Doe.

There is precedence for naming a street after a wartime pilot while they are still alive. Squadron Leader Ben Bennions of 41 Squadron had a street named after him while he was still alive. So why not Wing Commander Bob Doe?

I have been lucky to have spent many hours in his company and he is an absolutely delightful man. Both these men risked their lives in Sussex for many years and were first class pilots.

Bob was one of the few pilots who flew both the Spitfire and Hurricane during the Battle of Britain. He joined the RAF in 1939 and retired from the RAF 1956 as a Wing Commander.

He is a modest man and during the battle he shot down 14 enemy aircraft and shared another two.

During the night of January 3, 1941, he suffered a terrible crash while attempting to land at Warmwell. The oil in his cooler froze and on landing at 160 miles per hour on a snow-covered airfield, he crashed into some oil drums.

This was caused by his harness breaking and throwing him forward onto his gun site, the force of which broke his arm.

His face was rearranged and his nose ended up in the middle of his forehead. He was taken to hospital and the next morning the surgeon informed him he had also knocked out one of his eyes, which had been put back while he was still unconscious.

He was treated at Park Prewett Hospital in Basingstoke by Sir Harold Gillies and after about 20 operations he could talk and eat properly.

He was then given a book with pictures of noses and told to choose one he liked. His nose still had to be replaced.

A piece of bone was taken from inside his hip, dovetailing it into his forehead and then stitching over it what skin was left. The operation was successful but two days later Bob walked into a door and dislodged the bone graft, his nose was once more not in the centre of his face.

He is a tough guy to keep down. There was also a job of work to do and so on May 15, 1941, just over four months after his terrible crash, Bob rejoined his unit. Three days later he was at Buckingham Palace to receive the DFC and Bar.

Don't wait until Bob has passed away, get on and have the street named after him while he is still with us. Surely, that's the least we can do for such a fine brave man.

-David Rowland, Telscombe Cliffs