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20 August 1897 : Cpl / Flt. Cdt John Arthur Wilson MM
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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...
12 August 1914 Lt Robin Reginald Skene, Royal Flying Corps
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Robert Skene, the son of Felix Skene, the Chief Clerk of the Judicial Office of the House of Lords, was born in Surrey on 6 August 1891. Known as 'Robin', at the time of the April 1911 Census, the 19 year old was a clerk at the Royal Exchange Insurance Office and living with his parents and 3 siblings and their housemaid, at 47 Addison Gardens,...
025: Spring 1989
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030: Winter 1990
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Above the Trenches - Supplement
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Book review by Gary Sheffield. Above the Trenches - A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-20 first appeared in 1990 and was a mine of useful information. This Supplement consists of more of the same: brief biographies of pilots omitted from the original book, plus other information that the indefat...
066: January 2003
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100: June 2014 Special Edition
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When the Navy Took to the Air: The Experimental Seaplane Stations of the Royal Naval Air Service
Reviewed by Niall Ferguson. Those hoping to read of the exploits of the RNAS on the Western Front will be disappointed since the secondary title of this volume provides a better description of the contents than the primary. While there is some description of aerial action, it reflects only on the culmination of research and experimentation at pl...
Stand To! No.1 to No.133 Full Contents Listing
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Stand To! 1-133 Content Stand To 1 Spring 1981 Editorial Notes (Peter T. Scott) Serving members of the Western Front Association Early Days, New Paths and Acknowledgements Inaugural Meeting: John Terraine's Address. Historian John Terraine berates those who indulge in ‘purely tragic pilgrimages to the Western Front’. The Loving Care of the CW...
Winged Sabres: One of the RFC’s Most Decorated Squadrons
/world-war-i-book-reviews/winged-sabres-one-of-the-rfc-s-most-decorated-squadrons/
By Robert A Sellwood Pen & Sword Aviation, £25.00, hb, 344pp, 35 b/w ills, six appendices. ISBN: 978–152–672–957–6 Robert Sellwood’s maternal grandfather, George Tester, was killed in action in September 1917 serving as an air gunner in 20 Squadron RFC. Wanting to know more about his grandfather and the squadron in which he served led to 15...
Over and Above
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By Captain John E Gurdon DFC Grub Street, £16.00, hb. 224pp, 12 ills. ISBN: 978–1–911621–08–9 John Everard Gurdon, commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment, transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917. After pilot training and a period of instructing, he was posted to 22 Squadron in France in February 1918. He flew two–seat Bristol F.2B figh...
An Eye in the Sky: The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force Career of Air Commodore Henry George Crowe MC, CBE, CBD (SC)
By Bob Cossey Pen & Sword Aviation, £25.00, 392pp, 200 ills, appendix, index. ISBN: 978–152–672–596–7 Henry George Crowe, ‘Hal’ to his family, was born in Dublin on 11 June 1897. The son of a successful stockbroker, he was studying engineering at Trinity College, Dublin when war was declared. Too young to enlist, he joined the army via Sandh...
8 June 1919: Lt William ‘Billy’ Nichol Wilson
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His father was Twentyman Wilson and mother Sarah; they were both from Dalston Cumberland and had agrarian backgrounds: the Wilsons were blacksmiths and wheelwrights, while the Nixons and Nichols on Sarah's side worked a small holdings. Twentyman got work in the then booming industrial town of Consett. Starting out as the head groom he went on...
The Battle of the Somme - A Royal Flying Corps perspective
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On 1st July 1916, the Battle of the Somme opened. With 60,000 casualties (including 20,000 dead) on the first day, this battle continues to fascinate and appal in equal measure. One aspect of the Battle of the Somme which is less well covered than others is that of the airmen who flew over the area during the summer and autumn of 1916, and later...
24 June 1917: Capt. William Parkinson Holt
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Parents Richard (a surgeon) and Maggie (née Parkinson). One of three boys, at the 1901 Census the family lived in a 14 roomed house with three domestic servants on Albert Road, Southport. William attended Burnley Grammar School and received a scholarship to Aldenham. After moving to Didsbury with his parents he spent the years leading up to t...
14 January 1917: 2nd Lieut. George Allan Exley
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He was the only son of John Exley of Farr Road, a pharmaceutical chemist, and his wife Mary Elizabeth. George was living on Cemetery Road, Holbeck (1901 Census) and then at the 1911 Census, on Farr Royd, Burley-in-Wharfedale. George went to Ilkley Grammar School, and was a student at the London College of Pharmacy, Clapham at the outbreak of t...
'The Royal Flying Corps' by Ron Gadd
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The Royal Flying Corps by Ron Gadd
Iris Hotblack and Alan ‘Balmy’ Morton : love letters from the Front
/world-war-i-articles/iris-hotblack-and-alan-balmy-morton-love-letters-from-the-front/
At the outbreak of war in 1914, 20 year old Miss Iris Mary Hotblack was at home with her family. They lived in a large, Edwardian, detached, seven room house called The Boltons, on King Henry’s Road, Lewes in Sussex. Iris had been sent away to school in Cheltenham so was used to living away from home and writing letters to stay in touch. She wr...
11 March 1917: 2nd Lieut. Horace George Cecil Bowden
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Parents George (Dental Surgeon) and Ada (née Wraight) Age 4 at the 1901 Census, Horace lived at 63 London Road (Rosenruth), Reigate. The family home included his parents, his 1 year old sister Irene, their cook and a housemaid. Horace went to Oakshade Prep School and then Cranleigh. He was a good shot. He represented his school at Bisley, an...
The Contemptible Little Army, 1914 -1918
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By Alex Saunt (Major Alex Saunt MBE served with the Light Infantry and with the SAS in Libya, Borneo, Northern Ireland, Germany and Denmark. He was awarded an MBE for his courage). The story of the expansion and development of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 1914-1918 and how the Contemptible Little Army became a huge, effective machine. B...
29 March 1915: 2nd Lieut. John Ollis Mullins RFC
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His parents were E. Roscoe Mullins (sculptor) and Alice (née Felton) of West Heath Avenue, Hampstead. 9 January 1907, after ten years of ill-health, John’s father died. He is known by his most famous sculpture of Cain. At the 1901 England Census, John, age 9, with his parents, three other siblings (older brothers Geoffrey and Claude, and sist...
4 April 1917: 2nd Lieut. Harold Charles Davis
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His parents were Edward (a barrister's clerk) and his wife Ellen (née Curtis). At the 1901 Census the family of parents, three children and Ellen's sister lived at 183 Devonshire Road, Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, London, S.E. Harold was educated at Brockley Central School. At the 1911 Census Harold was at home with his parents three brother...
5 April 1917: Lieut. Harry Boustead
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Fourth and youngest son of John Boustead and his wife Leila (née Money) of Briar Farm, Edenbridge, Kent. At the 1901 the family lived at Westfield Parkside, Wimbledon with eight servants (nurse, cook, parlourmaid, housemaid, groom, kitchen maid and nursemaid, and above the stables a coachman and his wife). Educated at Cromer Prep School, whe...
13 April 1917: Major William Milne M.C.
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Parents, James Milne of Mary Island, British Columbia and Henrietta (née Traquaiar) both from Scotland. In 1891, age 3, William lived at Baberton House with his parents, six siblings and five domestic servants. Educated Edinburgh Academy, Heidelburg, Germany and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Gazetted December 1908 and stationed in M...
The King's African Rifles at Kibata, German East Africa December 1916 to January 1917
When the Great War commenced in August 1914 "A", "B", "C" and "E" Companies of the 1st (Nyasaland, now Malawi) Regiment of the King's African Rifles (KAR) were deployed on border duty in British East Africa (BEA, now Kenya). These four companies remained in BEA and were constantly involved in operations against parties of German raiders who were...
18 May 1917 : Richard John Grandin
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Parents Elias Grandin and Louise (née Alix). Richard was educated first at Victoria College, Jersey and on the Training Ship Conway and then at the Lycée St. Breuc, France. At the 1911 Census Richard was at home in Jersey with his now widowed father, older sister and three domestic servants. His mother Louis had died that January 1911. Ric...
21 May 1917 : Capt. John Wilson Tailford M.C.
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His parents were Robert (a Tynemouth Engineer) and Sarah (née Wilson) Age 8 in 1901 John was at home in North Shields. His mother kept a boarding house. At the time of the census there were his mother, two older sisters, a domestic servant and three boarders in their 60s. John was educated in West Sussex at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham wher...
17 June 1917 : Air Mechanic Frank Waddington
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Parents Isabella Waddington and step-father Barker Greenwood. At the 1901 Census Frank, age 8, lived in Burnley with his grandmother and his five adult cousins, who were all employed as weavers. At the 1911 Census, after his mother had remarried, Frank was back with his family, the three children (Frank, Victor and Doris) family and their step...
The tragic story of 2/Lt Stewart Ridley
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'He spent his dear boy’s life for England' Engine failure was a persistent hazard for fliers during the Great War, often with fatal consequences. Here we have the story of a gallant young airman who met his end in a dreadful way due to a malfunctioning engine. Stewart Ridley was born on 6 July 1896, the second son of Mr and Mrs T. W. Ridley of...
Amongst the First To Fall - Early Casualties of the Royal Flying Corps in August 1914
Death was not a stranger to the Royal Flying Corps even before the British Empire commenced hostilities against Germany on 4 August 1914. Between the founding of the Corps on 13 May 1912 and the outbreak of War twenty-seven months later the Military Wing suffered the loss of twenty airmen in aeroplane accidents. Nevertheless, the RFC carried on...
21 September 1915 : Lieut. Stanley Caws
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Son of Douglas (a land agent) and Harriet (née Handley) At the 1881 Census the 2 year old Stanley was at home with his parents and sisters: Dora (6), Hilda (4). Ten years later in 1891 he also had a younger sister, Constance (3). Stanley was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Christ’s College, Blacksmith. He served in the South Afr...
19 January 1918 : Brigadier General Gordon Strachey Shephard
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Whilst researching Dorset War Memorials, the author came across the following paragraph: ‘In the grounds of the camp (1) at Osmington is a small wooden sentry box. Inside is a truncated propeller, cut to form a cross. On the boss is a small plaque which reads: ‘In memory of Brigadier G S Sheppard DSO, MC and RFC Jan 1918’.’ (2) Living near the...
ONLINE: 'Wings Over the Somme' with Clive Harris
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The presentation will be live and online. The Battle Of the Somme, seen through the eyes of those British Airman flying above it, offers a fascinating glimpse of the potential, and relevance, of air power over the Western Front. Whilst many accounts focus on the fighter squadrons, described by Lloyd George as ‘the cavalry of the clouds’, it was...
The Original Long Distance Bombers of the First World War
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Most of us are familiar with the RAF bombing campaigns of the Second World War, but few are aware that such cities as Cologne, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Stuttgart had already been targeted two decades earlier during the First World War. The reward for building an organisation like The Western Front Association on a foundation of reputable research...
Ep. 216 - Equipment and Clothes of the RFC – Mark Hillier
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Author and pilot Mark Hillier about talks his latest book on the equipment and clothes of the RFC in the First World War. This book is published by Pen and Sword. Your browser does not support the audio element.
The First RFC Pilot to land in France 13 August 1914
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At 6.25am on 13 August 1914, No.2 Squadron Royal Flying Corp mobilised for France. They were to follow their commanding officer Major C J Burke, a pioneer of military aviation who was noted for his courage and who had not only insisted that his squadron be the first to leave – but that his aircraft be the first to land. Above: Major Charles Bur...
Ep.220 – Recruiting and training the RFC – David Spruce
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Doctoral candidate David Spruce talks to me about his research into Recruiting and Training the Royal Flying Corps during the Great War. Your browser does not support the audio element. David Spruce looks at the recruitment and training me...
4 January 1917 : Captain Frederick Courtenay Selous
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He was the son of Frederick Lokes Selous and Ann Holgate Selous. Selous was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist. He was the inspiration Sir H. Rider Haggard who wrote books regarding the fictional Allan Quatermain character and was the subject of several movies. Going out to Africa age 19 he spent twenty years shooting bi...
Royal Flying Corps - Ken Delve
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Ken Delve : 'Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force in the First World War' “Had some hot fire on way back, one of those occasions when one wishes the Wright Brothers had never invented aeroplanes.” Maj Roderic Dallas, DSO MC*. From the early days of military aviation, the Army was ‘less than keen’ on machines that, to many, “frightened the horses”...
ONLINE: The Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front
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The presentation will be live and online. The talk by Graham Kemp examines the experiences of the men who served in Royal Flying Corps over the Western Front. From its early days, when your greatest danger was the plane, to the later years of trying to drive the German air force from the skies. Drawing from personal experiences and anecdotes...
Find here a full contents listing for Stand To! No.126 (April 2022) with part of the introduction to this edition from the Editor.
All standard members of The Western Front Association should have received their print copy over the weekend; all digital members were sent their copy this morning and can also download it via their Member Login. Communication Lines p.2 An introduction from the editor Matthew Leonard It’s April 2022, and Europe and the world is again staring i...
126: April 2022
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The Troubled Birth of the British Fighter 1911-1918 by Greg Baughen
THIS IS AN ONLINE EVENT As some of you may know, we do not normally hold meetings in August, due to summer holidays. However, with the advent and subsequent success of 'Zoom' meetings during the Covid shutdown, we have decided that this year we would hold another online meeting during August. The Troubled Birth of the British Fighter 1911-1918By...
A talk by Peter Hart 'Somme Success. The Royal Flying Corps and the Battle of the Somme'
(Image IWM 05153 aircraft approaching the airfield at Baisieux, Somme) Peter Hart needs little introduction to WFA members. He has been speaking at branches for over twenty years and has visited us in Canterbury no fewer than nine times. However, he has eighteen talks in his list, so we are only half way through! He is also well known for his...
'From Flying Dreadnought to Dogfighter - The Troubled Birth of the British Fighter' - Greg Baughan
On Wednesday 11th of October we welcome Greg Baughan to our Hornchurch venue, to present his first talk to the Essex Branch. This talk destroys many myths about WW1 fighter development. Part talk, part detective story, it explains how the importance of air superiority was understood long before the Great War began, explores how naval influence d...
'Missing-Died-Survived' with Guy Senior
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‘Missing-Died-Survived’ is the story of three brothers who fought on the Western Front: Joseph, Walter and George Senior. Born in the Yorkshire town of Wakefield, all three were educated at Wakefield Grammar School. Joseph, the eldest, was one of the most academically gifted boys of his generation. In the 1911 Oxford Senior Examinations, he was...
Ep.295 – The birth of the RAF – Prof. Richard Overy
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Professor Richard Overy, Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter, talks about his recent book on the formation of the RAF in April 1918. Your browser does not support the audio element. He describes how the Royal Flying Corp transf...
'From Flying Dreadnought to Dogfighter - The Troubled Birth of the British Fighter‘ a talk by Greg Baughen
This talk destroys many myths about WW1 fighter development. Part talk, part detective story, it explains how the importance of air superiority was understood long before the Great War began, explores how naval influence delayed the development of dogfighters like the Camel and SE5a and tracks down the mysterious Fighting Experimental dreadnough...
The First Air War - Grant Cullen
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* Note this talk replaces the previously published talk. Grant Cullen from the Chesterfield Branch of the Western Front Association will be revisiting the branch to talk about 'The First Air War'. Grant's talk will look at various aspects of the first air war and he has advised me that the talk will include photographs which are not generally i...
'First Things First", The Early Days: RFC Suttons Farm' - Richard Smith
This talk, at the Hornchurch venue, is a truly local story. This talk will cover the origins and history of RFC Suttons Farm in Hornchurch. It was from here that William Leefe Robinson shot down a Zeppelin in September 1916, the first downed by air combat over the UK. Suttons farm was a key part of home defence in the First World War and conti...
'No.16 Squadron RFC - The Great War History of an Army Cooperation Squadron' with Colin Buxton
Colin Buxton's presentation covers the history of the Army Cooperation role seen through the experiences of one unit: No.16 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. From early in the war, until its conclusion, the squadron flew many dangerous and demanding missions over the Western Front - including Artillery Spotting, Reconnaissance, Photography and Cont...
I Was There: Aerial Adventure on Aisne and Marne, by Lt Col L A Strange
We continue to work on the reminiscences of 'old soldiers' published in the 1939 publication 'I Was There!' and publish these as new videos on our YouTube channel. The most recent video is entitled 'Aerial Adventure on Aisne and Marne, by Lt Col L A Strange'. In this episode, Col Strange gives a magnificently vivid account of aerial adventure...
'The First RFC Pilot to Land in France' by John Gilder
Caption: Harvey Kelly's aircraft in the main hall of the Imperial Warm Museum About the talk: Hubert Dunsterville Harvey-Kelly, DSO, was commissioned in the Royal Irish Regiment before transerring to the Royal Flying Corps. He was the first RFC pilot to land in France (on 13 August 1914) after the war had started. Also the first RFC pilot who...