Evelyn Graves was born into a military family at Pachmarhi, India, on 5 June 1890. His father was Major the Hon Adolphus Edward Paget Graves, and his mother was Major Graves’ second wife, Katherine Mary, herself the daughter of a Colonel. He was educated at The Wick, Brighton, where he was head boy, and Lancing College, where he was the head of his house. After school, he joined the Army to study at the Woolwich and was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery on 23 December 1910.
After graduation from Woolwich, Evelyn was posted to India, where he served for four years with the 25th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, during which time he was promoted to Lieutenant on 24 December 1913. On his return to England in July 1914 he began flying training, and qualified for Royal Aero Club Certificate No.870 on 18 August that year, followed by an attachment to the Royal Flying Corps.Unfortunately, he was involved in a severe flying accident in February 1915, probably while serving with No.11 Squadron, when his Gnôme-engined Martinsyde fell some 700 feet, resulting in a compound fracture of his left leg and a broken right arm. He was lame for the remainder of his life.
After recovering from his accident, Evelyn was appointed as Staff Officer and Brigade Major to Brigadier-General J.F.A. Higgins, (1) then commanding II Brigade RFC,(2)and served in that position until December when he returned to flying as a Flight Commander in No.20 Squadron. The squadron had been formed at Filton from a No.7 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron nucleus in September 1915 and was equipped with the FE2b in December, before flying to St Omer on 16 January, followed by a move to Clairmarais on 23 January. Together with the single-seat DH2, the FE2b was one of the RFC’s main weapons in the defeat of the Fokker Eindekker. This had previously made operations tough for the RFC men in BE2cs then commanding II Brigade RFC, and served in that position until December when he returned to flying as a Flight Commander in No.20 Squadron. The squadron had been formed at Filton from a No.7 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron nucleus in September 1915 and was equipped with the FE2b in December, before flying to St Omer on 16 January, followed by a move to Clairmarais on 23 January. Together with the single-seat DH2, the FE2b was one of the RFC’s main weapons in the defeat of the Fokker Eindekker that had previously made operations desperate for the RFC men in BE2cs.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Brigadier-General J B FK Higgins
There is little information on Capt Graves’ activities while with No.20 Squadron, but some details emerge after research. On 16 April Capt Graves was flying 6202, with Lt H L C Aked as Observer, when the aeroplane crashed during a forced landing, but both crew members were unharmed.
Capt Graves was mentioned in RFC Communiqué No.34 after a prolonged action on 24 April 1916
The Second Army(3) reconnaissance (five FE2bs of No.20 Squadron) carried out a running fight during the whole of its course. Just before reaching Roulers, at a height of 9500 feet, the left front machine was attacked from behind by a biplane. A drum was fired from the back mounting and the hostile machine disappeared. After turning at Roulers, Capt James on the right rear machine was attacked by a Fokker, which was driven off. Immediately afterwards he was again attacked by a biplane from behind. Turning about, he fired at close range. The hostile machine went down in a spinning nose dive and was seen to crash into the ground. Shortly afterwards two biplanes attacked the whole formation from the left front, diving through the middle and being fired on by all machines. The rearmost of the two went down steeply, apparently not under control. Confirmation of this is given by the Guards Division, who report seeing a hostile machine fall near Passchendaele. From this point onwards there was continuous fighting but the formation worked so well that the reconnaissance machine was enabled to take its photographs successfully. During the whole time, there were scores of other hostile machines firing on the reconnaissance from long range. Our machines fired over 500 rounds during the reconnaissance. The pilots and observers are as follows:
Pilots
Observers
2Lt J.R.Morton
Lt F. Billinge
Capt E.P. Graves
2Lt G.E. Chancellor (4)
2Lt P.G. Scott
Cpl Gawthor
Capt C.E.H. James
2Lt Exley (5)
2Lt D.H. Dabbs
Cpl C.G.S. Ward
Capt Graves was flying FE2b 6332 during the above combat when he and 2Lt Chancellor were credited with a victory over the German two-seater that crashed near Passchendaele. Identifying the crews of the German aircraft claimed as shot down on 24 April is difficult. Casualties of the German Air Services could suggest that the crew of the downed German machine may be OfStv Karl Ritter (pilot), and Oblt Dietrich Freiherr von Kanne (observer) of Flieger Abteilung 41. They were killed near Roulers, or Ltn Olaf Bergengrün (pilot) and Rittm Benno Freiherr von Maydell, of FliegerAbteilung 24, who died near Ploegsteert. However, Roulers is some eight kilometres from Passchendaele, while Ploegsteert is about 15 kilometres from Passchendaele – the village which was the scene of much bloody fighting in 1917 was then some eight kilometres behind the German lines.
In May 1916, Evelyn was promoted to Major and transferred back to the UK to command a Reserve Squadron at Hounslow. An accident in November resulted in another leg injury, but he recovered by December, when he returned to the Western Front just before Christmas as Commanding Officer of No.60 Squadron, then based at Savy. Curiously, he replaced another officer who limped, Major R.R. Smith-Barry,(7) and he was, in turn, replaced by another limping commander, Major A.J.L. Scott. (8) The Etonian Major Smith-Barry (9) had built No.60 Squadron into a very efficient unit, both in the air and on the sporting fields, where it boasted talented teams in Association and Rugby football. He also had a unique method of dealing with a mountain of paperwork that threatened to overwhelm him: he simply burnt down the squadron office, with the paperwork inside!
It was RFC policy in early 1917 that squadron commanders should not cross the front line while flying, as the Corps needed to conserve its limited stock of experienced senior officers. However, Major Graves was able to do some flying, such as delivering Nieuport 17 A6645 (10) from Paris on 24 December 1916. Shortly after his arrival in No.60 Squadron, Evelyn conceived the idea of concentrating his experienced pilots in two flights, while new pilots were concentrated in a third flight, where they could become accustomed to flying the Nieuport, but while staying on the Allied side of the lines. However, the idea was not a success, and the concept was abandoned, as at least two experienced pilots were required in the trainee flight to teach the new pilots, and the veterans could not be spared from the other flights.
On 6 March 1917, flying Nieuport 17 A213, (11) Major Graves led three other Nieuports on an Offensive Patrol, departing Filescamp Farm aerodrome at midday. The flight attacked eight enemy fighters that were seen to be harassing an FE2 over Beaumetz, near Arras, and in the ensuing battle his Nieuport was shot down – almost certainly falling to the guns of Stv Wilhelm Cymera of Jasta 1. Major Graves’ Nieuport was the second of Stv Cymera's eventual five victories before he was killed in action over Chamouville on 9 May 1917.
There were many tributes to Evelyn after his death
Brigadier-General J.F.A. Higgins wrote:
“He was one of the best of the many fine officers I have known in the Corps: he was absolutely fearless”.
The Commander of the Thirteenth (Army) Wing, Lt-Col G.F. Pretyman DSO, was to say of Major Graves:
“He was mad keen to imbue his pilots with all the keenness and dash they needed for their work, and up to the time of his death, he was certainly successful”.
A brother RFC officer wrote:
“He died as he lived, trying to help someone else who was in trouble” while one of his sergeants said: “You simply had to work for the Major because you felt you couldn’t let him down”.
Major Evelyn Graves is buried in Grave 1.C.10 in Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery Extension.
REFERENCES
Above the Lines Norman Franks
Frank Bailey & Russell Guest
ISBN 0 948817 73 9
Air of Battle Wing Commander
W Fry
ISBN 0 7183 0353 9
Casualties of the German Air Service
Norman Franks, Frank Bailey & Rick Duiven
RAF Squadrons
Wg Cdr C G Jefford
ISBN 1 84037 141 2
Royal Flying Corps Communiqués1917-1918
Ed Christopher Cole
SBN 7183 0261 3
The MacMillan Dictionary of the First World War
Stephen Pope & Elizabeth-Anne Wheal
ISBN 0 333 61822X
The RAF FE2b/d
Cross & Cockade
ISBN 978 0 9555734 1 5
NOTES
1 Sir John Frederick Higgins (1875-1948), the holder of RAeC Certificate No.264 from 20 July 1914, retired from the RAF in 1940 as an Air Marshal. He is said to have exclaimed “Voila les vaches mécaniques!” (“Look – mechanical cows!”) when he first saw Farman biplanes, and ever after the herd was divided into Longhorns and Shorthorns.
2 II Brigade was attached to the Second Army, in the Ypres area at the northern end of the British-held sector of the Western Front.
3 The Second Army, commanded by General Sir Herbert Plumer from May 1915 to November 1917 (then again after March 1918).
4 Lt Geoffrey Ellis Chancellor (formerly 3rd Battalion, Queen’s Regiment) was killed, aged 18, when flying as observer with Major George John Malcolm MiD (formerly Royal Artillery), who was also killed, in FE2b A20 on 9 July 1916 when the aeroplane burnt out in a crash after a sideslip during a delivery flight. Both airmen are buried at Longuenesse, France.
5 Possibly 2Lt George Allan Exley (formerly 5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) then a pilot (RAeC Certificate No.3566) in No.29 Squadron who was killed in an accident when flying DH2 7929 on 14 January 1917.
6 Cpl Charles George Sedgewick Ward (2564) (formerly Honourable Artillery Company) was killed in action on 9 November 1916. He was flying as observer in FE2b 7701, flown by 2Lt J D Cowie, who was wounded, during an escort to a bombing mission to Bapaume.
7 Colonel Robert Raymond Smith-Barry (1886-1949) was a pre-War pilot who was badly injured when his BE8 crashed in August 1914. After service in France, he overhauled the RFC’s method of flying instruction and developed the system that remains in use to this day.
8 New Zealand born Lt-Col Allan John Lance Scott flew Sopwith ½ Stutters with No.43 Squadron before being promoted to command No.60 Squadron, where he was credited with five victories. He ended the War as Commander of the RAF Central Flying School but died during the influenza pandemic of 1919.
9 The squadron’s first commander, Major F. Waldron, assembled a trio of Old Etonians as his Flight Commanders: Capts R.R. Smith-Barry, A.S.M. Somers and H.C. Towers. Oddly, Waldron did not attend Eton himself; he was educated at Monkstown Park Public School, Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) in Ireland.
10 A6645 was flown by 2Lt G.O. Smart when he was shot down by Rittm Manfred von Richthofen on 7 April 1917.
11 A213 was previously flown by Lt Albert Ball, who was credited with eleven victories while flying the aeroplane before he left No.60 Squadron in October 1916.
The Western Front Association is delighted to have published a number of similar article by Gareth Morgan:
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Written by Jonathan Vernon
As a boy, after Sunday lunch, I recall sitting on my grandfather's knee and he would start off with the line ‘have I told you about the time ...' and he'd then add, ‘.... we were gassed' or '.... we took a German prisoner' or '..... I was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps'. Perhaps this started my interest in history.
In his 96th year Jack returned to Passchendaele with Lynn Macdonald and I recorded some three hours of interviews (soon to be shared). We even visited the armoury at the Imperial War Museum where he immediately squatted down behind a Vicker's Machine Gun and started to work through a routine of checks.
Jack was watching the first Iraq War on TV, whilst a contemporary member of the Durham Light Infantry was being interviewed, and he said, ‘That's nothing compared to Passchendaele', which I turned into a TV script of the same name. Since then I've used this memoir and library of references to write: ‘Get Jack Back' relating to the week in late November 1917 when he was stuck in Houlthoust Forest; and ‘Angel of the North' about his imagined younger sister who gets herself onto the Western Front. With the Great War Centenary nearly upon us, now is the time to remember. Jack died in his 97th year.
Fig 1: Jack Wilson, aged nine. Jack is in the middle distance in the centre of the road wearing a straw hat. He’s carrying a bamboo cane and jam jar and is with his younger brother Billy.
The second of five boys, Jack appears aged nine with his kid brother Billy in a photograph taken by his English teacher William Lubbock in Shotley Bridge in 1905. His earliest memory was the celebrations to mark the Relief of Mafeking in 1900.
At 14, Jack left school having completed Standard 7; he went to work for J G Murray, whom they called ‘The Governor’ at the head office of the North Eastern Brewery, based at the Royal Hotel, Consett. Here, as the office boy, he experienced all kinds of shenanigans in the office, hotel and pop factory.
Fig 2: Gustav Hamel, who flew a Bleriot in demonstration flights all over England.
In 1911, Jack saw the aeronaut Gustav Hamel fly around Carlisle Racecourse and took to buying model aeroplanes from Gammages.
In 1915, when appeals went out for volunteers to join up, Jack went along with some lads from the office to the recruiting office in Consett and shortly after was sent to Fenham Barracks, then on to Gateshead to train with the Durham Light Infantry. He recalled the medical, learning to put on a puttee, a wonderfully friendly Sergeant Major and the names of everyone who joined up with him and what happened to them.
Fig 4: Jack Wilson MM with WW1 author Lyn Macdonald and visitors to the Passchendaele salient to mark the 75th Anniversary.
Although he didn’t keep a diary, many decades later (in his 96th year) he recalled every detail to his grandson Jonathan Vernon who recorded several hours of interviews. He also attend the 75th Anniversary of Passchendaele tour with the author Lyn Macdonald. The interviews will become available as podcasts.
Highlights include seeing a soldier undergoing Field Punishment No 1, the first casualty (a lad kicked by a cow) and their first fatality, an officer shot through the head by a sniper. On the Somme, he went in after each push and soon gave up on the idea of collecting souvenirs on finding a head in a Picklehaube helmet.
Fig 5 A concrete pillbox in the mud of Passchendaele.
From the Somme he went north to Ypres and was positioned on the French flank. Jack survived the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) fighting at Langemark, Poelcapelle and Houthulst Forest.
Fig 6: John Arthur Wilson as featured in the Consett Gazette in 1917
On one occasion no relief was possible and he kept the machine-gun in action for a week. For this he was decorated with the Military Medal ‘in the field’ by Brigadier Sandlilands. In his absence, a mate sent a letter home saying Jack was missing and, for some weeks, his family assumed he had been killed.
Fig 7: Flight Cadet Jack Wilson with is plane at Crail
By this time his brother, Billy Wilson, who had joined the RFC as a 16 year old cadet, was piloting De Havilland Bombers. Jack got his papers in to transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and finally left the Western Front on 27 December 1917.
Fig 8: RAF Cadets on the sand, Hastings, June 1918. Jack is centre frame, in the back leaning into the camera and showing his bare right arm. He was, as he would describe ‘fighting fit’.
After a medical in London in January 1918, Jack enjoyed his first leave in over two years. He then went through training in Hastings, Bristol, Uxbridge and flying training in Avroes and Bristol Fighters at RAF Crail in Scotland. Below you can see his pilot log book which, like the hand book for the Vicker’s Machine Gun, was an item he kept safely all his life. Hear him in his own words.
Figs 9, 10, 11: Jack’s RAF Pilot Log Book, photo of a crash and the note on the back written by Jack.
At Crail, pilots and instructors were killed in accidents. Jack had to get along with the Public School mentality of the mess and even play that foreign (to him) game of rugby. He stayed on into 1919 to help with the demobilisation.
Back at the Head Office of the North Eastern Brewery, a collection kept during his absence allowed Jack to purchase a motorbike. His greatest regret was, in his words, not to ‘get back to France and have a go at Jerry’ in the Second World War.
Fig 12 John Arthur Wilson. Probably in the 1920s or early 1930s
Jack married into the Hogg family in the late 1920s. He remained with The North Eastern Brewery until Murray sold it to Vaux; after a short hiatus he joined the Scottish & Newcastle brewery where he remained as one of its Regional Managers until his retirement in the 1960s.
Fig 13: Mrs Sheila Vernon (nee Wilson), Jack’s daughter with John Wilson at the Tynecot cemetery.
Always keen to recount his stories of the First World War, in the early 1990s Jack attended MCG and RFC events as a veteran and travelled as a guest to 75th Anniversary Events to mark Third Ypres, or the Battle of Passchendaele – it broke Jack’s heart to mark spots where his friends had died, the locations remarkably easy for him to find despite the decades since the War.
Article and images kindly contributed by Jonathan Vernon.
The Airco (de Havilland) DH5 single-seat fighter was not one of the glamorous aeroplanes of the Great War. It wasn’t the mount of the aces – other than some who flew it early in their careers - it wasn’t able to hold its own with the better German fighters, or even many two-seaters, and its armament of a single Vickers machine gun was inadequate by the standards of mid to late 1917.
Nevertheless, the DH5, with its distinctive back-staggered wings, is remembered for the outstanding work carried out by its gallant pilots in support of the infantry during the November 1917 British offensive known as the Battle of Cambrai. Two DH5 squadrons, Nos 64 and 68 (Australian) and, of course, other Royal Flying Corps (RFC) units, supported the ground troops during their advance and suffered heavy casualties while doing so. This is the story of one of the airmen who flew the DH5 in its brief moment of glory.
Early Life and Army Service
Archibald James Pratt was born in Melbourne in 1893. As was normal for youths of his generation, he acquired some military knowledge during his formative years, as he served for two years in the Naval Cadets while at school. In 1914, he was living with his parents in Ascot Vale while working in engineering for Mephan Ferguson’s, a prominent Melbourne firm specialising in the manufacture of industrial piping. The company produced the pipes used to supply water from Perth to the goldfields at Kalgoorlie.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Several unidentified Australian soldiers of the 2nd Field Company Engineers, asleep with their legs tucked up in a dugout at Anzac Cove.
On 20 August 1914, Arch Pratt enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and became No 128, Sapper A.J. Pratt, 2nd Field Company, Australian Engineers, 1st Division, AIF. On 21 October 1914 his unit departed Melbourne on HMAT Orvieto [Transport A3 in the First AIF Convoy]. The Field Company trained in Egypt, and then, at 0700 on 25 April 1915, landed at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, i.e. about two hours after the initial landings on that first Anzac Day. The Company played its part in the ill-fated campaign by digging wells, constructing dugouts and artillery positions, repairing shell damage to tracks and other infrastructure, plus many other tasks. On 9 May Spr Pratt came down with tonsillitis and was admitted to the 4th Field Ambulance, where he stayed for three days before discharge. He was again admitted to hospital on 11 August, this time due to iritis – an eye infection – which developed into conjunctivitis, and saw him evacuated from Gallipoli and sent to a hospital on Malta. After successful treatment he rejoined the Field Company where he was promoted to Corporal on 15 January 1916 – he had previously held the rank on a temporary basis.
Following the end of the Gallipoli campaign in December 1915, the 2nd Field Company, together with the rest of the 1st Division, moved to France, and, therefore, the Western Front, in March 1916. Cpl Pratt was promoted to Sergeant in April.
On 23 July 1916, Sgt Pratt was wounded in the shoulder while serving with the Engineers during the desperate fighting for Pozières during the Battle of the Somme. He was admitted to the 7th Canadian General Hospital at Le Trequet two days later. On 3 August, he was transferred to the 3rd Convalescent Depot. Later in August he was discharged from hospital and rejoined the Engineers. This time, his stay with the 2nd Field Company was a relatively brief one, as on 25 November 1916 he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), which was then seeking men in the AIF on the Western Front, who were prepared to fight in the air.
Introduction to flying and the air war
The AFC wasted little time before sending Sgt Pratt to the RFC’s No 1 School of Military Aeronautics at Reading for ground training on 5 December; the AFC used RFC facilities until its own Training Squadrons were established later in the War. After completing the course at Reading, he then went to an RFC Training Squadron for flying instruction, but the particular unit is not shown in the AIF records.
On 17 April 1917, on completion of flying training, i.e. being awarded his ‘wings’, Sgt Pratt was promoted to Second Lieutenant. He was then posted to the Central Flying School (CFS) at Upavon before going to the School of Gunnery at Turnberry, Scotland on 24 April, for air fighting training. After five days at Turnberry, he was posted to No 68 (Australian) Squadron, then coming up to strength at Harlaxton in Lincolnshire, after establishment at Kantara in Egypt on 20 September 1916. Although identified by the RFC as No 68 (Australian) Squadron, internally the unit called itself and was known inside the AIF, as either No 2 Squadron AFC or No 68 Squadron AFC (or 68th Squadron AFC). Its personnel initially comprised some AFC men from Australia, supplemented by transfers from No 67 (Australian) Squadron RFC / No 1 Squadron AFC and other units of the AIF in Egypt. After arrival at Harlaxton on 30 January, under the command of Maj W.O. the squadron was brought up to strength by men who, like 2Lt Pratt, had joined from the AIF Watt,1 in Europe, as well as at least one experienced Australian, who was serving in the RFC.2, On 1 July 1917 2Lt Pratt returned to the CFS at Upavon, perhaps for further training before departure for the Western Front. On 13 July, he left Upavon, probably returning to Harlaxton. Then, like several other pilots from No 68 (A) Squadron, 2Lt Pratt was temporarily transferred to the RFC to gain combat experience while his AFC unit was still training/forming up. On 28 July
1917 he crossed the Channel to France and reported to No 1 Aircraft Depot at St Omer, the main pilot pool for the RFC on the Western Front; aircrew would wait there until posted to an operational squadron. Three other pilots3 posted to No 32 Squadron RFC at Léalvillers, where they gained experience on the DH5, the aeroplane that they would later fly in combat with the AFC. At the same time, another man who would join No 68 (A) Squadron, Lt R.W. Howard,4 Squadron RFC.
2Lt Pratt wasn’t sent to a DH5 unit, but to No 70 Squadron RFC, and then flying Sopwith Camels from Liettres aerodrome on the Ypres sector of the Western Front,5 After familiarisation with the Camel’s rather infamous idiosyncratic handling characteristics, the Australian began his career as a fighter pilot. At 0640 on 19 August 1917, flying Camel B3813, (No 2 aircraft in ‘C’ Flight, and marked C~2 in white on the fuselage) Lt Pratt was credited with sending down an Albatros scout out-of-control6 neither the Luftstreitkräfte nor the Marine-Feldjagdstaffel suffered a fighter loss that day that corresponds with 2Lt Pratt’s claim, so it’s likely that the pilot recovered and landed safely.
No 68 (Australian) Squadron, RFC
Six days after his victory, 2Lt Pratt returned to Harlaxton to rejoin No 68 (A) Squadron, before the unit’s deployment to France. One cannot help but wonder what his thoughts were as he left a unit from No 68 (A) Squadron, who were sent to France at that time flew DH4 two-seat bombers with No 57 joining his new unit on 4 August. South of Gheluvelt. According to German records, flying Camels, and then the most modern British aeroplane operational at the Front, to report back to his parent unit and fly the DH5. This product of the de Havilland design team was not a great machine; powered by a 110hp Le Rhône engine, it was manoeuvrable, but its performance was below that expected of contemporary aircraft, particularly in respect to speed and the time taken to gain altitude, where it was no real improvement on the Sopwith Pup, which preceded the DH5 into service by some eight months. Thanks to its ‘back-staggered’ wing arrangement, the pilot of a DH5 did enjoy an uninterrupted view forwards and upwards, but a very poor one to the rear and the armament of a single .303 Vickers machine gun was inadequate by the standards of the day.
The RFC soon learned that while the DH5 was a capable aeroplane for ‘trench strafing’ (as ground attack sorties were known at the time) it was unable to fight most German aeroplanes on an equal basis.
While forming up at Harlaxton, the squadron suffered a major blow when an experienced Flight Commander, Lt Stanley Muir MC, an Australian serving in the RFC, was killed in a flying accident after a lower wing of DH5 A9275 folded up in flight, causing the aeroplane to crash.
On 21 September 1917 2Lt Pratt flew DH5 A9265 - bearing the individual identification ‘2’ in ‘B’ Flight – (an aeroplane built by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company at Hendon) with the rest of the squadron from Harlaxton to St Omer, seven on 23 September. Baizieux, (sometimes spelt Baisieux) some 6 kilometres west of Albert, was to be the Australians’ base as part of the RFC’s 13th (Army) Wing under Lt Col G.F. Pretyman DSO.
Together with the 12th (Corps) Wing, the Wing was in III Brigade, commanded by Brig Gen J.F.A. Higgins DSO, operating over the sector of the Front held by General Sir Julian Byng’s 3rd Army and then on to Warloy the next day, before flying to Bazieux.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
A well-known photograph of a 68 (Australian) Squadron DH5 scout, serial A9242, at Harlaxton in late 1917. A presentation aircraft, it was named ‘New South Wales No.14. Women’s Battleplane’ via Chas Schaedel.
The aeroplanes that flew to France, and their pilots, 8 were:
The ground-based support staff arrived at Bazieux on 26 September. At about this time, the DH5s were painted with the squadron identification of a single vertical white bar on the fuselage, just in front of the tailplane.
After test flights on 29 and 30 September, on 1 October 2Lt Pratt flew his first operational mission with the AFC in A9265 (his regular aeroplane) accompanying Capt R.C. Phillipps in A9288, as a two-man close offensive patrol departing at 1200 (COP: meaning a patrol that penetrated into enemy air space, but remained more or less over the front lines). They were later joined by Capt G.C. Wilson in A9464, who departed Baizieux at 1315. A German two-seater was seen at 4000 feet over Vitry, but it avoided the Australians by diving out of range. As was often the case when DH5 formations sought combat, enemy aircraft were able to avoid action by simply diving away and gaining speed. The patrol returned at 1400.
On 2 October, 2Lt Pratt was involved when ‘B’ Flight flew a COP under Capt Phillipps in A9288, with Capt Wilson in A9464 and 2Lt C.C. Sands in A9263. They departed 1200 and returned at 1415 after chasing a German two-seater seen at 5000 feet over Bourlon Wood. The enemy aeroplane flew to the east and the patrol was unable to catch it before it was lost in poor visibility.
Next day ‘B’ flight attempted another COP, with Capt Phillipps in A9463, 2Lt Pratt in A9462, 2Lt Wilson in A9464, and 2Lt C.C. Sands in A9466. The formation departed at 1500 only to see Capt Phillipps return at 1505 due to trouble with his Vickers gun. The rest of the formation returned at 1515 “on orders from the Commanding Officer”; presumably they weren’t to cross the lines without the patrol leader.
For the rest of October, and the first nineteen days of November, ‘B’ Flight, like the rest of the squadron, endeavoured to carry out patrols on most days, but the airmen were frequently frustrated by engine malfunctions and poor flying conditions, especially limited visibility due to low cloud. 2Lt Pratt flew thirteen patrols in this period and led three of them. Enemy aircraft were infrequently seen and, when they were, the Australians soon discovered that even German two- seaters could easily avoid action by just turning away from the pursuing fighters and increasing speed.
On 26 October 2Lt, Pratt was promoted to Lieutenant. It was the usual AFC practice to promote a Second Lieutenant pilot to Lieutenant about three or four months after graduation from flying training. He flew an escort mission on the next day, but without sighting the enemy. 28 October was a day of some note for the squadron, as an SE5 (A4856) was delivered to the unit to allow the pilots to become familiar with the type of aeroplane25 that would replace their unsatisfactory DH5s. Lt Pratt was the first pilot in the squadron to fly the new machine.
The squadron was no doubt eager to receive its new aeroplanes due to the poor performance of the DH5 and its unreliable nature, especially regular mechanical failures – the type was renowned for its ability to shed valves. Lt Morrison was flying A9242 on 1 October when he was forced to land near Honnecourt due to a magneto failure - the aircraft was written off. On the same day, Lt Huxley crashed A9324 at Honnecourt due to a broken tappet rod. On 9 October Capt Wilson crashed A9464 due to ignition trouble. Two days later 2Lt Holden crashed A9245 at Baizieux while landing and 2Lt James crashed A9226 at Roequinqy thanks to a broken tappet rod. On 16 October Lt Bartlam crashed in A9373 at Guoy after engine trouble. Lt Taylor crashed A9224 on landing at Baizieux on 20 October due to engine trouble.
Unreliable engines weren’t the only problems faced by the squadron’s pilots at this time. Their opponents in the Luftstreitkräfte were also active and caused some casualties. On 2 October Lt Agnew26 in A9271 was last seen over Villers Outreaux, and was posted as missing in action; it was later learned that he had been taken a prisoner of war. Worse, on 13 October Lt Morrison in A9227 was badly wounded when shot down by enemy aircraft27 near Quéant. He came down in No Man’s Land and was rescued by the infantry, only to die from his wounds. Three days later Lt Howard was flying A9284 when the DH5 was badly shot about by enemy aircraft.
The Battle of Cambrai
At this point, it is appropriate to turn away from the squadron and look at the overall situation on the Western Front. In the north, the Third Battle of Ypres, often called Passchendaele, after its dismal closing phase, had finally ended on 6 November. The Front Line had been advanced only a few miles at the cost of some 310,000 British and Empire casualties, many of whom simply disappeared in Flanders mud. That same mud also ruined any chance for the newly-created Tank Corps28 to show the potential of its new weapon, the Mk IV tank. Bogged and broken down tanks, often riddled with holes from shell fire, littered the soggy battlefield, which had proved to be quite impassable for the metal monsters.
Undaunted, the Tank Corps planned a large-scale raid, by hundreds of tanks, over unbroken ground where their machines could demonstrate their capabilities. In order to preserve the element of surprise, and to protect the ground from being churned into a morass by a heavy preliminary bombardment, the tanks would attack with an artillery barrage just creeping in front of them, then punch a hole in the elaborate German defences, known as the Hindenburg Line, before retiring after inflicting maximum damage. The idea was seized on by British General Headquarters (GHQ), desperate to satisfy political demands for a victory after the slaughter at Ypres, and the attack expanded from a raid to a 48-hour limited offensive directed towards the German-held town of Cambrai, opposite the 3rd Army. In particular, the aims of the offensive were:
1. to break through the Hindenburg Line between the Escaut Canal and the Canal du
2. to capture Cambrai and Bourlon Wood; and
3. to exploit any breakthrough with a move towards Valenciennes.
However, it would have been very difficult to exploit fully any breakthrough, primarily because there were almost no infantry reserves available, due to the heavy casualties at Ypres.29 In preparation for the offensive, men, guns and tanks were moved into the 3rd Army’s area.
Fortunately for the British, the weather conditions that so often curtailed No 68 (A) Squadron’s operations also prevented German reconnaissance aeroplanes from observing the build-up. Like other RFC units, the squadron began intensive training in low-level infantry support operations and the DH5s were fitted with racks to carry four 25lb (11kg) Cooper bombs. On 17 October, during this period of low flying, Lt Taylor in A9224 collided with a haystack when he was forced to land due to engine failure.
On the eve of the offensive, III Brigade was able to deploy 125 two-seat reconnaissance and artillery observation aircraft in the 12th (Corps) Wing and 134 single seat fighters, plus 18 Bristol Fighters and 12 DH4 bombers in the 13th (Army) Wing. Advanced Landing Grounds were constructed near the Front Line to provide bases close to the offensive and to cater for damaged aircraft that could not fly back to their home aerodromes. Only one German fighter unit initially opposed the RFC in the sector: the green-tailed Albatros scouts of Jasta 5 at Estourmel.
On 20 November 1917, the British offensive known to history as the Battle of Cambrai commenced at dawn and featured the first British mass use of tanks on firm ground.30 Two Army Corps were involved in the first phase of the Battle: III Corps with the 6th, 12th 20th and 29th Infantry Divisions, and IV Corps with the 36th (Ulster), 51st (Highland) and 62nd (West Riding) Infantry Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Division, supported by 1000 artillery pieces, were concentrated against the Front held by the German 2.Armee. Also, the 2nd and 5th Cavalry Divisions were in reserve, ready to speedily advance through any break in the German front line – cavalry was the fastest way to occupy enemy territory if the opportunity arose. Most significantly, the British attack was spearheaded by 476 tanks.31 There were 378 fighting tanks in nine battalions of 42 tanks each, 54 supply tanks, 32 wire pullers (to rip up the German barbed wire), seven gun carriers, two bridging tanks, nine wireless tanks and one transport tank. Here it should be born in mind that although the Mk IV Tank in both its ‘Male’ (two 6 pounder guns, plus three .303 Lewis or Hotchkiss machine guns) and ‘Female’ (five .303 Lewis or Hotchkiss machine guns) versions was then the latest thing in armoured fighting vehicle development, it was nevertheless ponderously slow – moving at walking pace (3.7 mph on good ground) – and was mechanically unreliable.
The attack, aided by thick fog that initially hampered German efforts to counter-attack, achieved complete surprise and penetrated some 6 kilometres by late afternoon – an enormous distance when compared to previous offensives. Church bells were rung in Britain to celebrate a victory for the first time since hostilities commenced. Encouraged by what appeared to be a major success, GHQ opted to extend the battle beyond the original planned 48 hours.
However, as was inevitably the case when the Allies attacked on the Western Front, the German defenders quickly rallied and resistance stiffened as infantry and artillery reinforcements were rushed to the Cambrai Front. In the air, Jasta 5 was soon reinforced by other units, including the redoubtable Jagdgeschwader Nr I led by Rittm Manfred von Richthofen, and the first deployment of the new Schlachtstaffeln (specialist ground attack units) equipped with the Halberstadt Cl. II and Hannover Cl.II. The tanks suffered greatly from both mechanical failures and the attention of German field artillery, which soon learned to deal with the slow-moving machines. At the end of the first day of fighting, 179 tanks were out of action. In particular, the defences in and around Bourlon Wood, to the north-west of Cambrai itself, brought the attack in that area to a standstill. The Wood was impassable for tanks, and the fighting was intense.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
The War in the Air
In the air above the battle, the RFC was fully committed, with aeroplanes flying below cloud at very low level – 10 to 15 metres above the ground – under the cloud as pilots dropped bombs and used their machine guns to great effect as they supported the infantry and tanks. Both DH5 squadrons involved, Nos 64 and 68 (A) together with their contemporaries in Nos 3 and 46 Squadrons flying Sopwith Camels, were exceptionally busy, as their rotary-engined machines were deemed more suitable than aeroplanes with inline engines for the close support missions that they were now flying.32 As an indication the ferocity of the fighting, the fighter units involved in the Battle suffered 30 percent losses. For his part, Lt Pratt bombed two heavy machine gun positions and attacked troops and motor vehicles on the Cambrai road. Poor weather conditions curtailed flying on 21 November.
At 1000 on 22 November, Lt Pratt took off from an Advanced Landing Ground near Bapaume on a Special Mission (meaning intensive ground attack). Unfortunately for him, A9265 was hit by ground fire – probably infantry machine guns - and he was forced to land just inside British-held territory after suffering a minor wound.33 He was rescued by the infantry, but before being taken to hospital he reported the location of a German battalion headquarters at the north-west corner of Bourlon Wood that he had bombed and machine-gunned. He was only briefly hospitalised before rejoining his squadron on 23 November. However, A9265 was wrecked and written off.
On a brighter note for the squadron, on the same day, another ‘B’ Flight pilot, Lt F.G. Huxley, flying A9461, was credited with the squadron’s first victory in aerial combat34 when he shot down an Albatros scout at 1045. His victim was probably Ofstv Karl Bey of Jasta 5, who was killed over Anneux at 1140 German time (an hour ahead of Allied time); he had been credited with his only victory, a Bristol Fighter,35 only five days earlier.
The tremendous efforts of the squadron were appreciated by the RFC hierarchy. Maj Gen Sir Hugh Trenchard, the commander of the RFC on the Western Front, wrote to General Sir William Birdwood, the Commander of I ANZAC, on 22 November:
“Dear General “I have just been to see the Australian Fighting Squadron No 68 for the second time in the last week, and I have talked to some of the pilots who carried out the great work on November 20th, 21st (sic) and to-day. Their work was really magnificent . . .
“These pilots came down low and fairly strafed the Hun. They bombed him and attacked him with machine-gun fire from fifty feet, flying among the treetops; they apparently revelled in this work, which was of great value. You might like to let some of your people know that I think them really great men, and I am certain that in the summer next year they will all give a very fine account of themselves. They are splendid.”
In summary, the opening phase of the Battle of Cambrai was a period of intense fighting for No 68 Squadron, as indicated by the following table of pilot and aircraft losses.
TABLE OF LOSSES
20 November
A9278 Lt L.H. Holden was shot down by enemy aircraft but was unhurt.
A9378 Lt H. Taylor was brought down by ground fire. He unsuccessfully
A9399 Lt L.N. Ward was last seen over Marcoing; he was posted as missing in action and was taken prisoner of war. [36}
A9457 Lt F H Sheppard was wounded when shot down by ground fire; his aircraft
A9473 Capt J. Bell was shot down from the ground; he died of his wounds on 27 December. His aeroplane was written off.
A9483 Lt W.A. Robertson had to land at an advanced landing ground after his aeroplane was badly damaged by enemy aircraft.
B377 Lt R.W. McKenzie was shot down by ground fire at Fremicourt.
21 November
No operational flying due to weather conditions
22 November
A9265 Lt A.J. Pratt was wounded when brought down by ground fire. Aircraft
A9294 Lt R.W. Howard was forced to land at No 56 Squadron’s aerodrome at Lavuévukke due to thick fo, his aeroplane badly damaged.
A9477 Lt D.G. Clark37 was killed in action in aerial combat after last being seen over Bourlon Wood.
23 Nov A9263 Lt S.W. Ayers39 was shot down, probably by ground fire, and died from his wounds.
A9326 Lt L.H. Holden was uninjured when his aeroplane was very badly damaged by ground fire our Bourlan Wood.
A9428 Lt A. Griggs was last seen over Bourlon Wood. He was shot down, probably by ground fire, and died of his wounds.
A9536 Lt E.D. Grant40 was forced to land after damage, probably due to enemy ground fire, and his aircraft was badly damaged.
24 November
No operational flying.
25 November
Limited operational flying.
26 November
Limited operational flying.
27 November
No operational flying.
28 November
No operational flying.
29 November
A9330 Lt E.D. Grant was forced to land due to engine problems and the aeroplane, was badly damaged.
A9517 Lt R.W. Howard was uninjured when his aeroplane was badly shot up by enemy aircraft.
30 November
A9532 Lt H.G. Cornell [42] was shot down by enemy aircraft and had to spend 24 hours in a heavily shelled position before rescue.
1 December
A9341 Lt L. Benjamin43 was uninjured when shot down by enemy aircraft.
A9541 Lt R.W. McKenzie was uninjured when shot down by enemy aircraft after being credited with a victory over an Albatros D.V which dived, landed hard and crashed into a shell hole north-west of Villers-Guislain.44 (No German fatal loss matches this victory, so the pilot evidentially survived.)
A9461 Lt W.A. Robertson was uninjured when shot down by enemy fire.
4 December
A9336 Lt H. Taylor was uninjured when his aeroplane landed roughly after action
5 December
A9544 Lt R.W. McKenzie was uninjured when shot down by enemy aircraft.
6 December
A9279 Lt Johnson45 was uninjured when his aeroplane was badly shot up by over Bourlon Wood.
A massive German counter-attack began on 30 November, commencing with a short ‘hurricane’ artillery bombardment that included heavy use of smoke and gas shells. In a preview of the tactics to be used in the March 1918 Kaiserschlacht, the advancing infantry attacked in small groups, bypassing centres of resistance and leaving them to follow-up groups and artillery. The RFC was again busy, this time supporting retreating British infantry. Losses in No 68 (A) Squadron in the second phase of the Battle were:
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. DH5 serial A9344 was delivered to No.68 (Australian) Squadron on 24 November 1917 and became the mount of A Flight’s Lt Les Holden. Des Martin.
Lt Pratt did not fly on operations again until 5 December when he flew A9338 as part of a seven- aircraft patrol led by Capt G.C. Wilson; the formation had an indecisive combat with twelve
Albatros scouts and four two-seaters over Bourlon Wood. On 6 December, the penultimate day of the battle, he flew DH5 A9338 as part of a morning low patrol and bombed enemy troops in the village of la Fontaine. In the afternoon, flying the same DH5, he bombed troops near Lateau Wood before being forced to return with engine trouble.
The Battle of Cambrai ended on 7 December, after about 45,000 British and 50,000 German casualties. The net result was a minor bulge in the Allied Front Line known as the Flesquières Salient.
No less than six squadron pilots, Capts R.C. Phillipps and G.C. Wilson, Lts L.H. Holden, R.W. Howard, F.G. Huxley and H. Taylor, were awarded the Military Cross for their deeds during the battle. Also, Sgts B.F. Jones46 and R. Lonsdale,47 together with Cpl W.B. Campbell48 and Pte H.S. Raphael49 were awarded the Military Medal for bravery in salving aeroplanes under fire.
Later events – the man
After the Battle had drawn to a close, the squadron began converting to the SE5a, the aeroplane that it would operate until the Armistice, just under a year later, though operations with DH5s would continue for some weeks.
At 0935 on 12 December Lt Pratt attempted to take off in SE5a B699 (an aeroplane built by Vickers Ltd at Weybridge and delivered to the squadron five days earlier) intending to fly to the aerial range at Berck sur Mer, repeating a flight he had made two days earlier. Unfortunately, the aeroplane crashed during take-off, something attributed to the rough nature of the aerodrome. The pilot was assessed as being ”OK” but the SE5a was wrecked, with broken longerons, engine bearers, wings, centre section struts and propeller.50
On 23 December Lt Pratt proceeded to the UK on leave, returning on 14 January. However, he continued to suffer from a concussion, almost certainly the result of one his crashes, and was detached from his squadron on 16 January and admitted to No 24 General Hospital at Etaples. Following an examination on 20 January he was sent to England and admitted to the RFC Central Hospital at Hampstead on 25 January 1918. After further examinations, he was deemed to be unfit for flying, and in March he was struck off the strength of the AIF and set out to return to Australia on the transport ship Durham Castle. When the ship reached Cape Town, he moved to another transport, the Kenilworth Castle, for passage to Durban where he joined the Hospital Ship Field Marshall in which he returned to Australia on 22 May, with his illness specified as war-induced neurosis.
After arrival in Australia, it was determined that Lt Pratt was no longer able to carry out his military duties and so, on 10 July, his appointment in the AIF was terminated. As is often the way with government service, instead of the thanks of a grateful nation, on 16 July he was sent a letter which requested the return of all items issued during his service, and a reminder that any personal items for which he had been paid an allowance were now government property, and must be handed in. Also, he was reminded that he was not to wear his uniform unless authorised to do so.
Although no longer in the AIF, Arch Pratt was still determined to play his part in the war effort, and he joined the Merchant Navy, only to arrive back in Europe as the Armistice came into effect. After the Armistice, he returned to Melbourne before moving to Wellington, New Zealand, where he married Mary Bell. The couple had a daughter, Betty. At some time in the 1930s, the family moved to Homebush, NSW, where they lived in George Street. Sadly, Archibald Pratt was only 44 when he passed away in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on 21 March 1937. He is buried in Rookwood Cemetery.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Maj W.O. Watt and officers of No 68 (Australian) Squadron, RFC, at Baizieux, early December 1917. SE5a serial A4856 is in the hangar behind them. Left to right, back row: Lt L.F. Loder; Lt T. Grant; Capt L.H. Holden MC; Capt R.W. Howard MC; Lt L. Benjamin; Capt W.A. Robertson; Lt A.J. Pratt (indicated by arrow). Front row: Lt L.S. Truscott; Lt F.A. Power (partially obscured); Lt P.H. Lawson; Lt D.C. Allardice; Capt H.G. Forrest DFC; Maj W.O. Watt OBE; Lt L.R. Clark; Capt G.C. Wilson MC DCM; Lt C.C. Sands; Lt H. Taylor MC MM. Kneeling: Lt W.A. Turner; Capt F.G. Huxley MC. AWM E14034
Later events – the squadron
No 68 (Australian) Squadron RFC was officially renamed No 2 Squadron AFC on 19 January 1918. Equipped with the SE5a, the unit flew with distinction up to the Armistice, claiming about 170 enemy aircraft. Some of the pilots mentioned in the above account went on to considerable success: Capt R.C. Phillipps was credited with 15 victories; Capt R.W. Howard was credited with eight, and Lt R.W. McKenzie was credited with six.
Later events – the tanks
After proving their worth at Cambrai, the Mk IVs were replaced by the much improved Mk V and Mk V* (a stretched version of the Mk V, with room for a section of infantry) together with the smaller and lighter Medium Mk A Whippet. However, some Mk IVs were still in front-line service well into 1918. All tanks worked hard in the Allied advance towards the Armistice, to the extent that only a handful of fighting tanks were available for use as the war ended.
On the other side of the lines, about 100 Mk IVs that were captured at Cambrai were pressed into service by the Germans under the title of Beutepanzer (literally ‘booty armour’) and provided the bulk of German armour in 1918. Ironically, possibly the last engagement fought by Mk IVs as fighting tanks in British service was near Niergnies on 8 October 1918, when Mk IVs of the 12th Battalion, Tank Corps, fought four captured Mk IVs from Abteilung 15. German Mk IVs were last in action in Berlin in 1919, when Freikorps51 units supporting the Government used two “Females” while suppressing dissidents.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. INSERT REFERENCES
NOTES
1. Maj Oswald Watt, a merchant and grazier from Sydney, was born in Bournemouth, England in 1878. A pre-war pilot who flew with the French Aviation Militaire after service in La Légion Étrangère. He transferred to the AFC after attaining the rank of Capitaine, and being awarded the Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre. At the Armistice, he had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He drowned in an accident in 1921.
2. Capt S.K. Muir MC, from Melbourne, had served in the Light Horse before being commissioned in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps before transferring to the RFC, where he flew with No 67 (Australian) Squadron in the Middle East. He was awarded his MC for actions on 22 December 1916 [this would have been the AFC’s first combat victory, but it was not confirmed] and 1 January 1917 when he forced down enemy aeroplanes.
3. Capt R.C. Phillipps and Lts G.C. Matthews and G.C. Wilson. Capt Phillipps’ experiences with No 32 Squadron included being shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Elverdinghe while flying DH5 A9372 on 7 August.
4. Capt Richard Watson Howard MC, an engineering student from Hamilton, NSW.
5. No 70 Squadron was the first operational Camel unit in the RFC, having equipped with the type in June 1917.
6. An ‘out-of-control’ victory meant that the enemy aeroplane wasn’t seen to have crashed.
7. The flight by eighteen aeroplanes, leaving Harlaxton at 0930 and arriving at St Omer at 1700, was an RFC record for rotary-engined aeroplanes.
8. The authoritative account in de Havilland Aircraft of World War I, is at some variance with the Squadron War Diary, which indicates that the following pilots flew to France, but doesn’t identify their aeroplanes: Maj Watt, Capts Bell, McCloughry and Phillipps, Lts Griggs and Matthews, 2Lts Wilson, James, Holden, Howard, Robertson, Morrison, Huxley, Pratt and Taylor. 2Lts Agnew, Ayers, Bartlam, McKenzie, and Ward, plus Lt E.A. Tooth (Equipment Officer) 2Lt W.A. Turner (Recording Officer) and 2Lt L.T. Loder (Armament Officer) came by ship with the ground staff.
9. Capt Gordon Campbell Wilson MC AFC DCM, a pattern maker from Newcastle, NSW; he was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1929.
10. Lt Albert Griggs, a civil engineer born in Missouri, USA. He died from wounds on 23 November 1917 and has no known grave.
11. Lt John Richard Bartlam, a motor driver from Townsville, Queensland.
12. Capt John Bell, a grazier from Rokewood, Victoria. He died of wounds on 27 December 1917.
13. Capt Leslie Hubert Holden MC, an assistant manager from Turramurra, NSW.
14. Maj Roy Cecil Phillipps MC DFC, an accountant from Perth, WA.
15. Lt Douglas George Morrison, an orchardist from Kilmore, Victoria.
16. Air Commodore Wilfred Archibald McCloughry DSO MC DFC, a law student from Adelaide, SA. He commanded No 4 Squadron AFC in 1918. His surname is sometimes spelt McClaughry.
17. Lt Frederick George Huxley MC, a shop keeper from King Island, Tasmania.
18. Capt George Campbell Matthews, a master mariner born in Stranraer, Scotland. He flew a Sopwith Wallaby in the contest to fly from England to Australia in 1919.
19. Lt Cecil Holman James, a motorist and aviator(?) from Alexandra, Victoria.
20. Lt Harry Taylor MC MM, a mechanic born in Birmingham, England. He was killed in an aeroplane accident in August 1918.
21. Capt William Alexander Robertson, an engineering student from Albert Park, Victoria.
22. Lt Leslie Norman Ward, a clerk from Walkerville, South Australia. Taken prisoner of war, he was repatriated to the UK on 17 December 1918.
23. Lt Clive Chisholm Sands, an engineering student from Randwick, NSW.
24. Lt Robert William McKenzie, a chemist from Adelaide, South Australia.
25. The DH5 in No 68 (A) Squadron was replaced by the SE5a, a more powerful development of the SE5.
26. 2Lt Ivo Cumberland Fraser Agnew, a pastoralist from Tasmania. He was repatriated to the United Kingdom on 29 November 1918.
27. Ltn Hans Staats of Jasta 12 claimed a DH5 over Quéant; it was his only victory before his death in a collision with an SE5a of No 24 Squadron RFC on 6 March 1918.
28. The Tank Corps was created from the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps on 27 July 1917.
29. BEF infantry reserves were further depleted when five divisions (together with six French divisions) were sent to the Italian front to bolster their Ally in its struggle against the Austro-Hungarians. The Italians had been forced into a major retreat after the Austro-German attack at Caporetto on 24 October 1917.
30. The battle is often erroneously noted for being the first large-scale use of tanks in a major offensive operation. However, the French had deployed large numbers of tanks in April (130+), May (48), and October (92) 1917 and, of course, more than 200 British tanks were used during Third Ypres.
31. The tank assault at Cambrai was one of the very few occasions during the war when an assault was directly led by a general. Brig-Gen Hugh Elles, the Commander of the Tank Corps, rode into action aboard Hilda, Tank No 1 of ‘H’ Battalion, commanded by Lt T.H. de B. Leach. The tank flew the Corps’ new flag of brown, red and green horizontal stripes, signifying the hope of ‘through the mud and blood to the green fields beyond’.
32. [Then] Lt Arthur Gould Lee provided an excellent contemporary first-hand account of his experiences as a No 46 Squadron Camel pilot over Cambrai in his book No Parachute.
33. Reported in Flight magazine of 3 January 1918.
34. He was also credited with the squadron’s last aerial victory while flying the DH5; a DFW two-seater shot down on 6 December.
35. Ofstv Bey’s victory was over Bristol F2B A7231 of No 11 Squadron RFC. The crew, 2Lts E. Scholtz and H.C. Wookey, were taken prisoner of war and then tried by a Court Martial as their aircraft was carrying propaganda leaflets. The airmen were sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude but were transferred to an ordinary POW Camp when only a small fraction of their sentence had been served. A7231 was used for training purposes by the Germans with the legend Gute Leute, Nicht Schiessen! – Good people, don’t shoot! – painted on the wings.
36. See Clipped Wings by Charles Schaedel in the 1993 edition of The ’14 –’18 Journal by the Australian Society of World War One Aero Historians.
37. 2Lt David Goodlet Clark, a grazier from Picton, NSW. He was killed in action on 22 November 1917 and has no known grave.
38. Vfw Otto Könnecke of Jasta 5 was credited with a victory over a DH5 over Anneaux at 0840; it was the ninth of his eventual 33 victories.
39. Lt Sydney Winton Ayers, a mechanic from Cootamundra, NSW. He died of wounds on 24 November 1917 and has no known grave.
40. Lt Eric Duncan Grant, a student born in London, England.
41. There are two possible German claims for this aircraft. Ltn Hans Klein and Ltn AloisHeldemann of Jasta 10 both claimed a ‘Sopwith 1 seater’ over Crevecour.
42. Lt Harold Gordon Cornell, an electrician from Richmond, Victoria.
43. Lt Lawrence Benjamin, a student from St Kilda, Victoria.
44. This was the first of his eventual six victories.
45. A mystery man: it’s difficult to find a Lt Johnson, Johnston or Johnstone who served in No 68 (A) Squadron at the time of the Battle of Cambrai.
46. 2Lt Bertram Fitzhardinge Jones MM, a dental mechanic born in Dunedin, New Zealand.
47. Sgt Richard Lonsdale MM, born in British Columbia, Canada.
48. Cpl William Bennett Campbell MM, an engine fitter from Mackay, Queensland.
49. Pte Herbert Silvester Raphael MM, a clerk from Orange, NSW.
50. The wreck of B699, which had been delivered only a week earlier, was repaired and then delivered to No 84 Squadron RFC on 3 March 1918. Lt G.O. Johnson was credited with three victories (one shared) while flying it before it was struck off charge after a forced landing on 2 April. The Canadian Capt Johnson was eventually credited with 11 victories, including the 27 victory German ace Ltn Kurt Wusthoff, who was captured on 17 June 1918. In the Second World War, Air Marshall G.O. Johnson headed the Royal Canadian Air Force in the United Kingdom.
51 The Freikorps (Free Corps) were post-war private military formations, generally composed of former Imperial officers and men, funded by right-wing industrial interests, and intended to suppress feared left-wing uprisings in Germany. Some Freikorps units became the de facto German Army in the Baltic States in 1919
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Richard Beard died of spinal meningitis
57215 Pte. Richard William Beard, 10th Bn. Prince of Wales (W.Yorks) Regiment
Born at Embsay, Yorkshire in 1898, Richard was employed as a dyer in a weaving shed in Skipton at the time of his enlistment.
Conscripted in Skipton in 1916 (but mobilised in June 1917 with 83 T.R.B.), he had seen active service on the Western Front since only November 1917 when he fell ill with spinal meningitis and had to be evacuated from the combat zone.
He had, at this point, just been accepted for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps (9 Squadron), but due to his illness, saw no service with them.
Richard died in the 7th General Hospital, St.Omer on 22nd January 1918 and is now buried in Longuenesse Souvenir Cemetery, St.Omer, Pas de Calais.
2nd Lieut. James Smyth, 2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
Born in Ballymacarrett, Belfast in 1889, James moved with his family to England while he was a child.
Living at Plumstead, London, he was employed as a printer’s engineer before getting married and gaining employment with the Borough Engineering Company.
Although originally dissuaded from enlisting due to his occupation, James eventually joined the Royal Flying Corps and was commissioned on 1 August 1916.
After training as a pilot, he was sent to France to join 2 Squadron with whom he remained for the remainder of his career.
Whilst engaged on a photographic recconnaissance mission, James’ B.E.2d –serial number 6232 was attacked by a Halberstadt D.II of Jasta II piloted by Manfred von Richtofen. James's observer was 2nd Lt. Edward Byrne.
It was around mid-day on 11 March 1917.
Crashing south of La Folie Wood on Vimy Ridge, both men were killed instantly upon impact.
Bond of Sacrifice – First World War Portraits Collection - Imperial War Museum ( www. iwm.org.uk )
Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Army Medal Office.
WWI Medal Index Cards. In the care of The Western Front Association.
2nd Lt. Edward Borgfeldt Booth, 43 Training Squadron, Royal Air Force
Born in Toronto, Canada on 31 August 1899, Edward was educated at the University of Toronto where he also excelled at track and field events.
He enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps in March 1917 and was soon serving in France with 70 Sqn. RFC.
A Sopwith Camel pilot, he claimed five victories (with a further four unclaimed) and was recommended for the Military Cross.
Shot down twice himself (once in October 1917 and, for the second time, in November), Edward was hospitalised and became a flying instructor at Market Drayton and Salisbury Plain on recovery.
While demonstrating stunts over Salisbury Plain on 7 April 1918, Edward crashed his aircraft and died upon impact.
His body repatriated to Canada, he is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
7 April 1918 killed in action
Research by David O'Mara
References:
The Toronto Evening Telegram 10th April, 22nd May and 27th May 1918
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Pen and Sword, 2010. ISBN: 1848841779.
Those who own a copy of Alex Revell's The Vivid Air, which was published by William Kimber in 1978, will immediately recognise Fighter Aces! as a reprint of a favourite account of air-fighting in two world wars, and will know Alex Revell as an accomplished and well-respected historian of air warfare in the Great War particularly noted for his expertise on Gerald Constable Maxwell's squadron: No 56. This new impression takes the opportunity to record, on the last page, the death in 2000 of Michael Constable Maxwell. The book would benefit from source notes and a bibliography.
This fast-paced double biography, and I should stress that this is a biography rather than edited memoirs, begins with the story of Gerald Constable Maxwell's service in the Great War predominantly with 56 Squadron, one of whose star pilots he became. The author makes good use of his subject's diary to detail Gerald's hectic life of patrols, combats and victories.
Gerald flew thirty-seven types between 1916 and 1918 and commented in his diary on many of them. For example, during his time as a fighting instructor at Ayr he flew a Bristol M.1C which he described after his second flight as "the nicest machine I have ever flown". After a mock dog fight Gerald recorded that in an SE5 he could do nothing against a fellow instructor in the M.1C "...as the mono outzooms an SE every time."
The book's cover, showing a Mosquito and its fatally damaged victim, emphasizes the work's dominantly Second World War content. However, any Great War aviation enthusiast should enjoy the 167 pages about Michael and Gerald in the '39 - '45 conflict just as much as they have enjoyed the sixty-two pages about the earlier war.
If The Vivid Air does not already grace your bookshelves you may want to add Fighter Aces to your collection of quality aviation biographies.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.ISBN: 0 297 84621 3 HB 381 pages £25.00
Published by Weindenfield & Nicholson
The Battle of Arras is the forgotton battle of the Great War.
Many Great War authors have penned important works on the battles of 1915, the Battle of the Somme and the three battles of Ypres, very few have looked at Arras in April 1917.
In Bloody April, Peter Hart has looked at the battle from the view point of those who flew with the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.) and the Royal Naval Air Service (R.N.A.S.), during the turmatic months of April and May 1917.
The book is well structured commencing with a review of the R.F.C.’s and to a lesser extent the R.N.A.S.’s activities from the summer of 1914 to the early spring of 1917. It is written from a revisionist point of view. Peter also makes many interesting observations in the introductory section of the book. The one which stand out refers to the Scout Pilots or Air Aces.. “Unfortunately, the scout pilots role soon became so wreathed with glamour that then, and ever since, this allure has deflected attention from the real role of the R.F.C...”
Once the book commences with the story of the battle extensive use is made the pilots accounts of their life and all to regular death expliots over the Arras battlefields. This narrative helps to explain to the reader just how the pilots and observers coped with combat, fear, survival and death during their many hazardous missions.
The reader through Peter’s narrative is helped to see the whole picture rather than looking at the battle as a group of isolated incidents involving the many unsung heroes of the R.F.C. Time and again you are told about daring exploits and acts of selfless sacrifice to obtain arieal photographs of enemy trenches and gun positions. Most importantly this is placed into context, you are remined the RFC’s role was to provide information which was then used to support the Infantry on the ground.
The book also introduces the reader to the exploits of the ‘Red Baron’, Manfred von Richthofen and his flying circus. The reader very quickly becomes aware that the German pilots such as Richthofen selected their prey with great skill. If they were to be of use they had to stopped the enemy getting their photographs and disrupt the arieal direction of artillery fire.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. This is a first class study of the Battle of Arras. At long last we have a book which really does prove the quote ‘Up the Arras’, the R.F.C. met the challenge and came out on top.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Peter Hart, ISBN: 978 0 297 84653 6 HB 386 £22.50 Published by Weidenfield & Nicholson.
Peter Hart, as one has come to expect, has written a first class account of the 1918 Air War. He has used his intimate knowledge of Great War veterans to illuminate their vital part in achieving the hard won victories in the late summer and autumn of 1918.
In this book Peter Hart has made extensive use of the Oral History Archives held at the Imperial War Museum. Each chapter is well illuminated with the reminiscences of those who were there. Along side Hart's simple yet very effective understanding of the conflict he is writing about, one comes to understand just what the pilot's and aircrew of the Royal Flying Corp and later the Royal Air Force had to contend with on a daily basis.
The book certainly draws the reader into the chaotic and turbulent world of the air crews. Many had joined for the thrill of flying, this excitement is soon lost and Hart allows the words of these brave men to tell the reader how they actual felt.
Many people have, over the years, idolized the "Aces". Their role in achieving the victory of 1918 has been overplayed by many authors, Hart has not fallen into this trap. He calmly and quietly explains why they were important for raising moral both on the Western Front and at home in "Blighty". However in the whole spectre of this conflict as individuals they really did not hold pivotal positions.
I feel many modern day authors pay scant attention to the photographs used to illustrate their books. In this volume we see many new pictures, many of which are horrific in nature. They illustrate exactly just how appalling the air war was.
The only critisism I have about the book is not the content which is first class, but the light grey texts used for the many quotes. Anyone with failing eye sight will struggle to read them.
In conclusion I would recommend this book most highly. This book explains to the reader exactly just how horrific the air war was, but most importantly it places the role undertaken by the RFC/RAF into its correct historical prospective.
Allied Note to Greece; prohibition of resservists' meetings, control of telegraphs, posts and railways, release of imprisoned Venizelists and inquiry into Athens disturbances demanded.
On Land: Mesopotamia
British occupied El Arish. Sinai.
In the Air: Mesopotamia
British air raid on Bargela, new Turkish base, 19 miles west of Kut.
German Naval Policy
Admiral von Holtzendorff, Chief of German Admiralty Staff, drew up Memorandum urging immediate unrestricted U-Boat warfare, on the ground that England could thereby be brought to her knees within five months.
Captain Basil Hallam Radford, No 1 Army Kite Ballon Section, Royal Flying Corps
Basil was born 3 April 1888 and lived on Cromwell Road, South Kensington. He was at the public school Charterhouse from 1903 to 1907. He became an actor and went on stage as 'Basil Hallam'.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Basil Hallam also known as 'Gilbert the Filbert'
By early 1914 he had established himself as a popular and successful light comedian appearing in various productions before he created the persona 'Gilbert the Filbert' by all accounts, a Berty Woster upper class funk of the kind played later in the century by Hugh Laurie.
He had a steel plate in his foot from an old injury which preented him from joining the army. In his later 20s though and otherwise fit he was the frequent recipient of 'the white feather' which eventually prompted him to join the then Royal Flying Corps where he got himself a position as a balloon observer.
His death in action is described by Rudyard Kipling in The Irish Guards in the Great War, Vol 2 1916 - Salient and the Somme:
On a windy Sunday evening at Couin, in the valley north of Bus-les-Artois, the men saw an observation-balloon, tethered near their bivouacs, break loose while being hauled down. It drifted towards the enemy line. First they watched maps and books being heaved overboard, then a man in a parachute jumping for his life, who landed safely. Soon after, something black, which had been hanging below the basket, detached itself and fell some three thousand feet. We heard later that it was Captain Radford (Basil Hallam). His parachute apparently caught in the rigging and in some way he slipped out of the belt which attached him to it. He fell near Brigade Headquarters. Of those who watched, there was not one that had not seen him at the "Halls" in the immensely remote days of "Gilbert the Filbert, the Colonel of the Nuts."
Captain Hallam is buried at Couin British Cemetery.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Further research by Gerald Gliddon (see article below), suggests that Cpt Radford had taken a third person, an old school friend from Charterhouse, up in the balloon. When faced with tragedy he gave up his parachute.
Two men jumped to safety leaving Radford to jump, or to blow across enemy lines. Expecting to be shot out of the sky he jumped to certain death.
20 August 1916 fell to his death
Readers iterested in Basil Radford should also read the piece by Gerald Gliddon 'Basil Radford or 'Gilbert the Filbert'. You may also like to see what else was going on in 'The Diary of the War', our day by day coverage of the First World War.
And finally, with thanks to Mark Bristow for posting this to The Western Front Facebook Page, is Basil Hallam singing 'Gilbert the Filbert ... the nut with a K'.
Evelyn Graves was born into a military family at Pachmarhi, India, on 5 June 1890. His father was Major the Hon Adolphus Edward Paget Graves, and his mother was Major Graves’ second wife, Katherine Mary, herself the daughter of a Colonel. He was educated at The Wick, Brighton, where he was head boy, and Lancing College, where he was the head of his house. After school, he joined the Army to study at the Woolwich and was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery on 23 December 1910.
After graduation from Woolwich, Evelyn was posted to India, where he served for four years with the 25th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, during which time he was promoted to Lieutenant on 24 December 1913. On his return to England in July 1914 he began flying training, and qualified for Royal Aero Club Certificate No.870 on 18 August that year, followed by an attachment to the Royal Flying Corps.Unfortunately, he was involved in a severe flying accident in February 1915, probably while serving with No.11 Squadron, when his Gnôme-engined Martinsyde fell some 700 feet, resulting in a compound fracture of his left leg and a broken right arm. He was lame for the remainder of his life.
After recovering from his accident, Evelyn was appointed as Staff Officer and Brigade Major to Brigadier-General J.F.A. Higgins, (1) then commanding II Brigade RFC,(2)and served in that position until December when he returned to flying as a Flight Commander in No.20 Squadron. The squadron had been formed at Filton from a No.7 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron nucleus in September 1915 and was equipped with the FE2b in December, before flying to St Omer on 16 January, followed by a move to Clairmarais on 23 January. Together with the single-seat DH2, the FE2b was one of the RFC’s main weapons in the defeat of the Fokker Eindekker. This had previously made operations tough for the RFC men in BE2cs then commanding II Brigade RFC, and served in that position until December when he returned to flying as a Flight Commander in No.20 Squadron. The squadron had been formed at Filton from a No.7 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron nucleus in September 1915 and was equipped with the FE2b in December, before flying to St Omer on 16 January, followed by a move to Clairmarais on 23 January. Together with the single-seat DH2, the FE2b was one of the RFC’s main weapons in the defeat of the Fokker Eindekker that had previously made operations desperate for the RFC men in BE2cs.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Brigadier-General J B FK Higgins
There is little information on Capt Graves’ activities while with No.20 Squadron, but some details emerge after research. On 16 April Capt Graves was flying 6202, with Lt H L C Aked as Observer, when the aeroplane crashed during a forced landing, but both crew members were unharmed.
Capt Graves was mentioned in RFC Communiqué No.34 after a prolonged action on 24 April 1916
The Second Army(3) reconnaissance (five FE2bs of No.20 Squadron) carried out a running fight during the whole of its course. Just before reaching Roulers, at a height of 9500 feet, the left front machine was attacked from behind by a biplane. A drum was fired from the back mounting and the hostile machine disappeared. After turning at Roulers, Capt James on the right rear machine was attacked by a Fokker, which was driven off. Immediately afterwards he was again attacked by a biplane from behind. Turning about, he fired at close range. The hostile machine went down in a spinning nose dive and was seen to crash into the ground. Shortly afterwards two biplanes attacked the whole formation from the left front, diving through the middle and being fired on by all machines. The rearmost of the two went down steeply, apparently not under control. Confirmation of this is given by the Guards Division, who report seeing a hostile machine fall near Passchendaele. From this point onwards there was continuous fighting but the formation worked so well that the reconnaissance machine was enabled to take its photographs successfully. During the whole time, there were scores of other hostile machines firing on the reconnaissance from long range. Our machines fired over 500 rounds during the reconnaissance. The pilots and observers are as follows:
Pilots
Observers
2Lt J.R.Morton
Lt F. Billinge
Capt E.P. Graves
2Lt G.E. Chancellor (4)
2Lt P.G. Scott
Cpl Gawthor
Capt C.E.H. James
2Lt Exley (5)
2Lt D.H. Dabbs
Cpl C.G.S. Ward
Capt Graves was flying FE2b 6332 during the above combat when he and 2Lt Chancellor were credited with a victory over the German two-seater that crashed near Passchendaele. Identifying the crews of the German aircraft claimed as shot down on 24 April is difficult. Casualties of the German Air Services could suggest that the crew of the downed German machine may be OfStv Karl Ritter (pilot), and Oblt Dietrich Freiherr von Kanne (observer) of Flieger Abteilung 41. They were killed near Roulers, or Ltn Olaf Bergengrün (pilot) and Rittm Benno Freiherr von Maydell, of FliegerAbteilung 24, who died near Ploegsteert. However, Roulers is some eight kilometres from Passchendaele, while Ploegsteert is about 15 kilometres from Passchendaele – the village which was the scene of much bloody fighting in 1917 was then some eight kilometres behind the German lines.
In May 1916, Evelyn was promoted to Major and transferred back to the UK to command a Reserve Squadron at Hounslow. An accident in November resulted in another leg injury, but he recovered by December, when he returned to the Western Front just before Christmas as Commanding Officer of No.60 Squadron, then based at Savy. Curiously, he replaced another officer who limped, Major R.R. Smith-Barry,(7) and he was, in turn, replaced by another limping commander, Major A.J.L. Scott. (8) The Etonian Major Smith-Barry (9) had built No.60 Squadron into a very efficient unit, both in the air and on the sporting fields, where it boasted talented teams in Association and Rugby football. He also had a unique method of dealing with a mountain of paperwork that threatened to overwhelm him: he simply burnt down the squadron office, with the paperwork inside!
It was RFC policy in early 1917 that squadron commanders should not cross the front line while flying, as the Corps needed to conserve its limited stock of experienced senior officers. However, Major Graves was able to do some flying, such as delivering Nieuport 17 A6645 (10) from Paris on 24 December 1916. Shortly after his arrival in No.60 Squadron, Evelyn conceived the idea of concentrating his experienced pilots in two flights, while new pilots were concentrated in a third flight, where they could become accustomed to flying the Nieuport, but while staying on the Allied side of the lines. However, the idea was not a success, and the concept was abandoned, as at least two experienced pilots were required in the trainee flight to teach the new pilots, and the veterans could not be spared from the other flights.
On 6 March 1917, flying Nieuport 17 A213, (11) Major Graves led three other Nieuports on an Offensive Patrol, departing Filescamp Farm aerodrome at midday. The flight attacked eight enemy fighters that were seen to be harassing an FE2 over Beaumetz, near Arras, and in the ensuing battle his Nieuport was shot down – almost certainly falling to the guns of Stv Wilhelm Cymera of Jasta 1. Major Graves’ Nieuport was the second of Stv Cymera's eventual five victories before he was killed in action over Chamouville on 9 May 1917.
There were many tributes to Evelyn after his death
Brigadier-General J.F.A. Higgins wrote:
“He was one of the best of the many fine officers I have known in the Corps: he was absolutely fearless”.
The Commander of the Thirteenth (Army) Wing, Lt-Col G.F. Pretyman DSO, was to say of Major Graves:
“He was mad keen to imbue his pilots with all the keenness and dash they needed for their work, and up to the time of his death, he was certainly successful”.
A brother RFC officer wrote:
“He died as he lived, trying to help someone else who was in trouble” while one of his sergeants said: “You simply had to work for the Major because you felt you couldn’t let him down”.
Major Evelyn Graves is buried in Grave 1.C.10 in Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery Extension.
REFERENCES
Above the Lines Norman Franks
Frank Bailey & Russell Guest
ISBN 0 948817 73 9
Air of Battle Wing Commander
W Fry
ISBN 0 7183 0353 9
Casualties of the German Air Service
Norman Franks, Frank Bailey & Rick Duiven
RAF Squadrons
Wg Cdr C G Jefford
ISBN 1 84037 141 2
Royal Flying Corps Communiqués1917-1918
Ed Christopher Cole
SBN 7183 0261 3
The MacMillan Dictionary of the First World War
Stephen Pope & Elizabeth-Anne Wheal
ISBN 0 333 61822X
The RAF FE2b/d
Cross & Cockade
ISBN 978 0 9555734 1 5
NOTES
1 Sir John Frederick Higgins (1875-1948), the holder of RAeC Certificate No.264 from 20 July 1914, retired from the RAF in 1940 as an Air Marshal. He is said to have exclaimed “Voila les vaches mécaniques!” (“Look – mechanical cows!”) when he first saw Farman biplanes, and ever after the herd was divided into Longhorns and Shorthorns.
2 II Brigade was attached to the Second Army, in the Ypres area at the northern end of the British-held sector of the Western Front.
3 The Second Army, commanded by General Sir Herbert Plumer from May 1915 to November 1917 (then again after March 1918).
4 Lt Geoffrey Ellis Chancellor (formerly 3rd Battalion, Queen’s Regiment) was killed, aged 18, when flying as observer with Major George John Malcolm MiD (formerly Royal Artillery), who was also killed, in FE2b A20 on 9 July 1916 when the aeroplane burnt out in a crash after a sideslip during a delivery flight. Both airmen are buried at Longuenesse, France.
5 Possibly 2Lt George Allan Exley (formerly 5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) then a pilot (RAeC Certificate No.3566) in No.29 Squadron who was killed in an accident when flying DH2 7929 on 14 January 1917.
6 Cpl Charles George Sedgewick Ward (2564) (formerly Honourable Artillery Company) was killed in action on 9 November 1916. He was flying as observer in FE2b 7701, flown by 2Lt J D Cowie, who was wounded, during an escort to a bombing mission to Bapaume.
7 Colonel Robert Raymond Smith-Barry (1886-1949) was a pre-War pilot who was badly injured when his BE8 crashed in August 1914. After service in France, he overhauled the RFC’s method of flying instruction and developed the system that remains in use to this day.
8 New Zealand born Lt-Col Allan John Lance Scott flew Sopwith ½ Stutters with No.43 Squadron before being promoted to command No.60 Squadron, where he was credited with five victories. He ended the War as Commander of the RAF Central Flying School but died during the influenza pandemic of 1919.
9 The squadron’s first commander, Major F. Waldron, assembled a trio of Old Etonians as his Flight Commanders: Capts R.R. Smith-Barry, A.S.M. Somers and H.C. Towers. Oddly, Waldron did not attend Eton himself; he was educated at Monkstown Park Public School, Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) in Ireland.
10 A6645 was flown by 2Lt G.O. Smart when he was shot down by Rittm Manfred von Richthofen on 7 April 1917.
11 A213 was previously flown by Lt Albert Ball, who was credited with eleven victories while flying the aeroplane before he left No.60 Squadron in October 1916.
The Western Front Association is delighted to have published a number of similar article by Gareth Morgan:
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Lt Ronald Baines Brookes, 55 Sqdn
Born at Ingleton, Yorkshire on 19 November 1896, Ronald had emigrated to Canada prior to the war where he was employed as a salesman in Toronto.
He enlisted into the Canadian Army Medical Corps at Toronto on 10 November 1914 and, as a Private soldier numbered 1572, served on the Western Front from mid 1915 with the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance.
Offered a commission in 1917, Ronald joined the RFC as a 2nd Lieutenant and served with 55 Squadron taking part in day-bombing sorties.
Returning from a mission on 13 March 1918, whilst being harassed by German fighters, Ronald's aircraft was seen to go down (under control) behind enemy lines.
Posted as missing, it was for hoped for some time that he might have been a prisoner of war due to the controlled way in which his plane was seen to go down, however, it would appear that Ronald had died upon the impact of his plane hitting the ground.
He is buried in Neuf-Brisach Communal Cemetery Extension, Haut-Rhin, France.
2nd Lieut. James Smyth, 2 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
Born in Ballymacarrett, Belfast in 1889, James moved with his family to England while he was a child.
Living at Plumstead, London, he was employed as a printer’s engineer before getting married and gaining employment with the Borough Engineering Company.
Although originally dissuaded from enlisting due to his occupation, James eventually joined the Royal Flying Corps and was commissioned on 1 August 1916.
After training as a pilot, he was sent to France to join 2 Squadron with whom he remained for the remainder of his career.
Whilst engaged on a photographic recconnaissance mission, James’ B.E.2d –serial number 6232 was attacked by a Halberstadt D.II of Jasta II piloted by Manfred von Richtofen. James's observer was 2nd Lt. Edward Byrne.
It was around mid-day on 11 March 1917.
Crashing south of La Folie Wood on Vimy Ridge, both men were killed instantly upon impact.
Bond of Sacrifice – First World War Portraits Collection - Imperial War Museum ( www. iwm.org.uk )
Ancestry.com. British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Army Medal Office.
WWI Medal Index Cards. In the care of The Western Front Association.
