James Thomas Byford McCudden, VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar, MM (28 March 1895 – 9 July 1918) was a British flying ace of the First World War and among the most highly decorated airmen in British military history. Born in 1895 to a middle class family with military traditions, McCudden joined the Royal Engineers in 1910. Having an interest in mechanics he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1913 at which time he first came into regular contact with aircraft. At the outbreak of war in 1914 he flew as an observer before training as a fighter pilot in 1916.