Col. Lynch began his military career as a pilot for the Royal Air Force in England, 1941. Upon one occasion his performance was considered so outstanding that he was invited to have tea with the King and Queen of England at Buckingham Palace. While stationed at Malta he won the sweepstakes by shooting down the 1000th Axis plane over that much bombed land. After serving 25 months with the Royal Air Force, Col. Lynch transferred to the United States Air Force. In 1944 he was stationed at what was then called Moses Lake Air Base (Larson Air Force Base) where he was director of flying and was in charge of training of all young pilots there. Body lost at sea near Okinawa, Japan.