DURING his RAF training, Jim ‘Izzy’ Izzard has learned about all kinds of air assaults.

But the RAF reservist found himself under a different type of aerial attack during a recent trip through the Oxfordshire countryside.

The 50-year-old was left bleeding and in pain after being dive-bombed by a buzzard while on a training run in Letcombe Bassett, near Wantage.

An expert last night said the bird would probably have been defending its chicks.

Mr Izzard, a Senior Aircraftman with RAF Benson’s 606 (Chiltern) Squadron, said the assault – at about 4pm on Sunday – felt like he had been “hit by a brick”.

And he likened it to a scene from the classic Alfred Hitchcock horror film The Birds.

Mr Izzard, who lives in the village, said: “The best way to describe it was if someone dropped a brick on your head from about 10 feet.

“I started to look around for somebody behind the hedge.

“When I regained my senses it was just up in the tree 20 to 30 feet away looking directly at me and screeching at me.

“It left me with great big scratches – it tore through the skin.”

The grandfather added: “The bird is doing what it is meant to do – I was just unlucky.”

But he said he would avoid the route in future.

Mr Izzard rejoined the air force last year 29 years after he left, as he was inspired by his 21-year-old son Adam, who joined the Royal Marines.

In the early 1980s, he worked as a mechanic on Jaguar attack jets at RAF Lossie-mouth, Scotland.

He flew out to Afghanistan earlier this year and was based at Camp Bastion, in Helmand province, where he helped refuel helicopters to transport troops and equipment.

Nik Shelton, Royal Society for The Protection of Birds spokesman, said buzzard attacks were rare and there had only been 10 similar reports from across the country this year.

He said the bird was probably defending its young.

He said: “There will be a nest nearby and the chicks will be in the area.

“It is the parent being over-defensive. It is quite unusual, but it does happen.

“It happens to cyclists and joggers for some reason – perhaps as they are travelling fast and are seen as a threat.

“The only other possibility is it’s an escaped falconry bird.”

In May, a Red Kite scratched a Year Eight pupil’s hand after swooping down to pick at a packed lunch at Icknield Community College in Watlington.