Sgt T. A. Vigors was born in Hatfield, Hertforshire, on 22nd March, 1921, and was brought up near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
After leaving Eton, Tim enrolled in January, 1939, as a cadet at RAF Cranwell - his godmother, an air enthusiast, had taken him flying, and he had immediately caught the bug. In February, 1940, he joined 222 Squadron at Duxford, flying Spitfires.
Flying from Hornchurch, Essex, 222 suffered heavy casualties during the summer of 1940, and Tim was twice forced to crash land his damaged Spitfire. But his successes over the Thames Estuary mounted, and by the end of September he had destroyed at least six enemy aircraft with a further six probables.

Tim shot down a Me110 on 3rd September, 1940.

On 9th September, shot down an Me 109, and was then shot down himself and crash-landed, unhurt, in an allotment plot in Dartford. He salvaged his parachute and was given some tea and whisky by a friendly lady.

In October 1940, Tim was awarded the DFC.

On 30th October, Tim destroyed two Me 109s over Kent, but any satisfaction was dissipated by the loss, in the same action, of his fellow pilot and close friend, Hilary Edridge. "A wave of misery swept over me," Vigors recalled. "I just couldn't get my mind to accept it...I started to cry."

Two months later he was posted to Singapore, joining 243 Squadron as a flight commander.
When war against the Japanese broke out in 1941, he took temporary command of 453 Squadron in the Far East, flying American-built Brewster Buffalo fighters. On the afternoon of 8th December, 1941, the Royal Navy's Force Z - which included the battleships Repulse and Prince of Wales - sailed north from Singapore to provide support against possible Japanese landings at Singora.
453 Squadron had been designated the Fleet Defence Squadron, and Tim Vigors had established radio procedures with Prince of Wales. Despite this, Admiral Phillips, the commander of Force Z, maintained radio silence and did not call for support. On hearing of Japanese landings at Kuantan, Phillips changed his plan and, still maintaining radio silence, altered course. In the meantime, Japanese reconnaissance aircraft had located Force Z.
When an attack against the ships appeared imminent, Phillips broke radio silence on December 10, and Tim Vigors finally got the order to scramble his 11 Buffaloes. But it was too late: when he arrived, the Repulse had gone down, Prince of Wales was sinking, and there was no sign of Japanese aircraft. All he could do was to fly over the survivors in the water and provide support for the rescuing destroyers. He always felt bitter about the failure of the naval forces to call for his assistance.
Tim led his squadron to northern Malaya. On 13th December, 1941, the squadron suffered heavy casualties, among them Tim. He had just landed at Butterworth when Japanese aircraft arrived to attack the airfield, and he ordered his six pilots to take off immediately to intercept the bombers. He attacked a large formation, and some reports claimed that Vigors hit three bombers in the melee. His aircraft was hit in the petrol tank. and one of the bullets had passed through his left thigh. Wounded and badly burnt, he had to bale out. He landed in the mountains near Penang where, luckily, he was found by two Malays who carried him to safety and eventual evacuation to India.

Tim Vigors held a series of flying training appointments before assuming command of RAF Yelahanka, responsible for converting Hurricane pilots to the Thunderbolt ground-attack fighter. He finally returned to England in 1945, taking part in the fly-past for the anniversary of the Battle of Britain on 15th September.

Tim retired from the RAF as a wing commander in 1946. His final tally of combat victories was 12½.
Tim Vigors died on 14th November, 2003, aged 82.

One of Timothy Vigors's engaging characteristics was his frankness about what it meant to be a raw young pilot during the Battle of Britain. He later reminisced about how, at 4am on 29th May, 1940, he had bade farewell to his lurcher, Snipe, and then accompanied 10 other pilots to receive instructions from their commander, Squadron Leader "Tubby" Mermagen, who told them that they were to head for Dunkirk.
"I walked over to my aircraft to make sure everything was in order. My mouth was dry and for the first time in my life I understood the meaning of the expression 'taste of fear'. I suddenly realised that the moment had arrived...Within an hour I could be battling for my life...Up until now it had all somehow been a game, like a Biggles book where the heroes always survived the battles and it was generally only the baddies who got the chop. I knew I had somehow to control this fear and not show it to my fellow pilots."
When he reached the coast of France, and came under fire from an Me 109, his first reaction was "extreme fear which temporarily froze my ability to think. This was quickly replaced by an overwhelming desire for self-preservation". He survived the encounter, and the next day shot down an Me 109, feeling the same satisfaction as on the occasion when, on the family estate at Clonmel, he had "pulled down a high-flying pigeon flashing across the evening sky with the wind up his tail". Two days later, also over Dunkirk, he shot down his first Heinkel 111.

On the night of 19th June, 1940, Tim returned from a night out somewhat the worse for wear for drink, and retired to bed at his base at Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire. When a Tannoy message called for a volunteer to intercept German aircraft which had crossed the coast, Tim took to the air wearing his scarlet pyjamas under a green silk dressing-gown. He shot down another Heinkel.

On becoming a civilian after the war, he eventually joined Goffs, the Irish firm of bloodstock auctioneers. Then, in 1951, he started his own bloodstock agency and no one can say that he lacked flamboyance in doing so. When commuting between the sales from Ireland to the US and back, Vigors used to hire a Constellation airliner, using the back half as a bedroom and the front as his office.
In 1968 his father died and Vigors inherited the Coolmore Stud in Co Tipperary. He moved there and, under his guidance, it started to progress to its present stature as one of the most powerful studs in the world.
Among the sires that, in time, helped his fortunes, there were the 1973 Arc winner, Rheingold, bought by Vigors for £1 million, as well as the American-bred Thatch and Home Guard, both trained by Vincent O’Brien. Tim was eventually bought out of the Coolmore syndicate. He went to live in Spain although continuing bloodstock activity. Then, in 1983, he returned to Newmarket. But the achievement which gave him particular pleasure was, after becoming racing adviser to Cartier in 1990, playing a prime part in establishing the Cartier Racing Awards which, now in their thirteenth year, have become so much coveted and sought after.