Cotton; Sidney Cotton . . . Whether on not he was a template for James Bond, Cotton played a big part in two world wars.

 IT was known as the SidCot suit, named for its inventor, Sidney Cotton.

Full-length, leather on the outside, fleecy-lined with the best Australian merino wool on the inside, it was much loved by World War I pilots. It is said that German ace Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) was wearing one when he was shot down.

The suit was a necessity in the freezing skies above France and Belgium, where Cotton, born near Proserpine in 1896, flew in the World War I Royal Flying Corps.

The SidCot suit might have been a worthwhile lifetime attainment, but Cotton went on to much greater things. As a businessman, he often flew himself to Germany in the 1930s. His German business associates would have been less than amused to discover that, at the same time, Cotton was overflying German airfields and photographing the growing Luftwaffe build-up.

Just before the invasion of Poland in 1939, Cotton was planning on flying Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering to England for possible peace talks with British prime minister Neville Chamberlain. The plan was aborted when the Gestapo told Cotton to leave Berlin.

Some writers have suggested that Cotton was a model for Ian Fleming's creation, James Bond. Although this might be a bit far-fetched, Fleming and Cotton were friends.

In World War I, Cotton ran his own photo-reconnaissance unit, known as Cotton's Club or the less flattering Cotton's Crooks. He was married three times, always to younger women and made – and lost – three fortunes.

He died in England in 1969. Today, his ashes rest beside his parents' grave, just outside Ipswich.

Maj Roderic Dallas, who downed 32 aircraft, was killed in 1918. Picture: Qld Museum

Another Queensland aviator of distinction was World War I ace Maj Roderic Stanley Dallas, who flew with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force. Dallas scored 32 victories, the second-highest Australian tally after Robert Little's 42. He joined the Australian Army in 1913.

When war broke out, he applied for a transfer to the Australian Flying Corps but was rejected.

A disappointed Dallas then joined the RNAS. He flew in Nieuport Scouts, Sopwith Triplanes and the famous Sopwith Camels. By April 1918, when he was commanding 40 Squadron, Dallas had downed those 32 aircraft.

He was wounded two weeks after he took command of the squadron but was soon back in the air.

A few weeks later, Dallas was jumped by three members of Johannes Werner's squadron and shot down. His body is in the Pernes British cemetery, near Calais, France.

Queensland's most famous military aviator was Don Bennett, born in Toowoomba in 1910. Bennett joined the RAAF in 1930 and a year later was posted to the RAF.

After a stint with Imperial Airways, Bennett returned to the RAF at the outbreak of war. His outstanding skills as a leader and a navigator led him to command the famous Pathfinders force in 1942.

The Pathfinders, drawn from the best bomber crews, led the massed night bombing raids on targets in Germany.