I had the privilege of meeting Bob Barckley at a reunion of the
Comet escape line in Brussels in 2011. Then a spry and charismatic 90 year old, I would have put him at 80 - tops.
He was shot down (flak) over Belgium in his Typhoon in mid-43 and made it back home via the Pyrenees and Gibraltar after 8 weeks. He subsequently converted to the Tempest - shooting down a dozen V1s.
Here's his Comet file.