76 replies to this topic

[nils d]

alanlw, on 02 February 2011 - 11:09 PM, said:

Nils,

Do you mean "Flying and Sport in Africa" by Leo Walmsley or "So Many Loves" as suggested by Bushfighter.

Just got hold of  "The Royal Flying Corps - A History" by Geoffrey Norris which devotes 6 pages to Squadron 26. Mentions Leo too.

Glad you enjoyed the picture. Here's another. I assume the guys with pith helmets are South African. Is that right, do you know?

5 chaps, tall straw hut, deck chair.jpg


Alan

Yes ,both books written years apart are good on 26 sqn
this new photo is interesting as the central figure has a medal ribbon under his wings.
i wonder if this is the imfamous Captian Howard who only flew with a drink inside him.
The chap in the picture looks"happy" to me.!
Anybody could wear a pith helmet.


sqn

[nils d]

Note also the skull and crossbones flag.As they were a long way from the sea we can rule out Somali pirates:rolleyes:

[nils d]

Dolphin, on 03 February 2011 - 08:39 PM, said:

Alan

The aeroplane is a very early Airco DH4.  I'd say that it's probably A2126, the second DH4 produced (other than prototypes) which served as a trainer with No 44 Reserve Squadron RFC from April 1917.  From the civilians gathered about the machine, the photo may have been taken prior to delivery to the RFC.

Unfortunately for us latter-day enthusiasts, black serial numbers don't contrast with the red rudder stripe in photographs taken with the orthochromatic film commonly used during the Great War period.

Regards

Gareth

Spot on Gareth.This DH4 is at hendon  aeodrome

[alanlw]

nils d, on 04 February 2011 - 04:33 PM, said:

Spot on Gareth.This DH4 is at hendon  aeodrome

I'm curious how you know it was Hendon?

It does fit, however, as our hero, the photographer, H C Brocklehurst, got his aviator's certificate at the Graham-White School, Hendon.  On a Graham White Biplane.

Alan

[alanlw]

nils d, on 04 February 2011 - 04:27 PM, said:

i wonder if this is the imfamous Captian Howard who only flew with a drink inside him.
The chap in the picture looks"happy" to me.!
sqn

Who was Captain Howard? The only one I can find arrived in Europe in 1918, these guys were in GEA in 1917.

Alan

[alanlw]

Another GEA/26 Squadron photo from 1917.

 4 chaps, 3 pith helmets, straw hut.jpg   61.83K   2 downloads

Alan

[nils d]

alanlw, on 04 February 2011 - 08:22 PM, said:

Who was Captain Howard? The only one I can find arrived in Europe in 1918, these guys were in GEA in 1917.

Alan

Captain Howard is a bit of a mystery.l dont have any sources to hand on him here but l recollect he drunk whiskey as a preventitive measure against malaria(l might try it sometime)
Plus he joined the FRENCH air sevice in August 1914 and escaped from behind
German lines shortly after.Thats why l suspect he is the the chap in the group photo with the medal ribbons. Are they French ribbons?

[nils d]

alanlw, on 04 February 2011 - 08:16 PM, said:

I'm curious how you know it was Hendon?

It does fit, however, as our hero, the photographer, H C Brocklehurst, got his aviator's certificate at the Graham-White School, Hendon.  On a Graham White Biplane.

Alan

DH4s were built at Hendon (or were accepted there.)
Note also civilian mechanics ,and that railing in the background is indiative of Hendon.
l am aware that earlier l said Howard drank whiskey before a flight.
It could of course have been WHISKY.   There is a difference  - as all the best pilots will tell you.

[alanlw]

I have just got hold of Leo Walmsley "So many loves". It appears the famous hunter Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell was also a member of this squadron at a similar time. Walmsley also mentions Selous being killed. Howard gets a mention too, who flew better on whiskey/whisky - not got the book with me at the moment so cannot check the spelling.

Alan

[alanlw]

nils d, on 08 February 2011 - 03:45 PM, said:

l am aware that earlier l said Howard drank whiskey before a flight.
It could of course have been WHISKY.   There is a difference  - as all the best pilots will tell you.

Having just looked at Leo Walmsley's book again, I can confirm it was whiskey, rather than whiskey he drank.  The Hon. Bernard Howard drank over a bottle a day, to prevent malaria, he claimed.

[Dolphin]

alanlw, on 27 February 2011 - 08:37 PM, said:

Having just looked at Leo Walmsley's book again, I can confirm it was whiskey, rather than whiskey he drank.  The Hon. Bernard Howard drank over a bottle a day, to prevent malaria, he claimed.

Alan

I think our US-based spelling checker is making life difficult for you.  Perhaps you could say Scotch (for whisky) or Irish (for whiskey).  Unless he drank bourbon, which seems unlikely.

Cheers

Gareth

[alanlw]

Dolphin, on 28 February 2011 - 05:11 AM, said:

Alan

I think our US-based spelling checker is making life difficult for you.  Perhaps you could say Scotch (for whisky) or Irish (for whiskey).  Unless he drank bourbon, which seems unlikely.

Cheers

Gareth

My understanding is that the drink made in Scotland is called whisky, Ireland and all others make whiskey.

Alan

[nils d]

alanlw, on 28 February 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

My understanding is that the drink made in Scotland is called whisky, Ireland and all others make whiskey.

Alan

If it makes the mosqitoes leave you alone whats the harm?(hic)

[alanlw]

nils d, on 28 February 2011 - 05:36 PM, said:

If it makes the mosqitoes leave you alone whats the harm?(hic)

  Yes indeed. It appears it didn't do Howard too much harm either, as he lived to be 69 – if I've got the right chap on Ancestry. Full name was Hon Bernard Henry Esme Howard, born at Greystokes Castle, Cumberland in 1880. He got his aviator's certificate in July 1913, and MC Feb 1917. Below is the photo attached to his aviator's certificate.

 Bernard Howard 26 Squadron RFC_crop_crop.jpg   12.94K   4 downloads

I think he's also the chap in the middle of the photo I uploaded a while ago. Here it is again. We wondered whether it was Brocklehurst in the middle but the medal ribbon looks as though it could be an MC. Brocklehurst didn't get anything like that.

[alanlw]

Been trying to collect names of officers (& maybe men) in RFC Squadron (SA) 26.  My sources are Leo Walmsley (So Many Loves & Flying and Sport in East Africa*) and Geoffrey Norris' History of the Royal Flying Corps. List so far is as follows:

? Batten  

  Walter D M Bell

  Francis William Brett

  Henry Courtney Brocklehurst

  William Warren Carey-Thomas

   ? Collander

  Gordon Shergold Creed

  John OR Euan Dickson

  Edwin Cheere? OR Angus Botha? Emmett

  George William Thomas Garrood

  ? Hewitt

  Gerard William Hodgkinson

  Bernard H E Howard

  ? Mac

  G St V Pawson

  ? Steenekampe

   ? van de(n) Spuy

  Leo Walmsley

Have tried to find men on Ancestry.co.uk who gained their aviator's certificate at roughly the right period (1911-1917) and created the following overview:

 Officers in RFC Squadron 26.jpg   92.72K   5 downloads

Surprisingly there were few officers with more than one possible candidate. I need to look in their Air Ministry records (AIR 76) at the National Archives to really confirm they were in this squadron of course. Ideally the war diary too. From the photos I have found with the Aviator's Certificate I think I may have two that are in our own collection of photos - they are Howard as mentioned before and Hodgkinson who became a wing commander eventually.

Does anyone have more info about any of these guys?

* I have been unable to find Leo Walmsley's "Flying & Sport in East Africa" to buy anywhere.I have found a copy on Google Books but that only allows partial preview (though enough to find some of the names above). Does anyone know where I can get hold of a copy?

Alan

[bushfighter]

An article on 26 Squadron RFC in East Africa has been in preparation now for a considerable time.

It is due to be published in Cross & Cockade International.
http://www.crossandc...e.com/index.asp

It will be worth your while to monitor 'Recent Journals'.

Harry

[alanlw]

bushfighter, on 08 March 2011 - 09:07 AM, said:

An article on 26 Squadron RFC in East Africa has been in preparation now for a considerable time.

It is due to be published in Cross & Cockade International.
http://www.crossandc...e.com/index.asp

It will be worth your while to monitor 'Recent Journals'.

Harry

Harry,

Thanks for the suggestion. I did contact Cross & Cockade after seeing your previous post on this subject but got no response whatsoever.

However, I will look again from time to time. When I went on their site yesterday I did a site search on German East Africa and found an interesting article on an attempted relief flight sent there by the Germans using an airship - longest flight ever.  

Alan

PS Would still like to get hold of a copy of "Flying & Sport in East Africa"

[Trelawney]

Alan

"Van der Spuy" is Kenneth Reid Van der Spuy, whose RAF service record is in AIR 76/520.  Van der Spuy was born 18 March 1892, at Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa; he began his flight training in Dec.,1913, at the Paterson Aviation Syndicate School, in Kimberley,  was commissioned a probationary Lieut. in the South African Defence Force, and was sent to the UK for additional training at  Upavon.  He received Royal Aero Club Certificate No. 803 on 2 June 1914.  After serving with 26 Squadron, he was promoted to Lieut. Colonel and commanded an RAF unit in Russia, in 1919. Taken prisoner, he was repatriated in 1920 and became a founding member of the South African Air Corps/South African Air Force and rose to the rank of Major General during the course of a long career.  He died in 1991, in South Africa.  Regarding Captain Brocklehurst, in addition to his RAF service record (AIR 76/56) there is an Army officer's service record for "Captain H.C. Brocklehurst" at WO 339/7621 at the National Archives UK.  The RAF service record for "Lionel Walmsley" at AIR 76/527 is for the right man; the BMD birth index states that the birth of "Lionel Walmsley"
was registered in the 3rd Quarter of 1892 at North Bierley, Yorkshire.  Walmsley was born 28 Sept. 1892 at 1892, at Shipley, Yorks. and there is an Army officer's service record at  WO 339/39860 at the National Archives, for "Lieut. L. Walmsley."   Walmsley was awarded the Military Cross, as well; the award was gazetted
18 October 1917 (issue 30340, p. 10712) and the award citation was in the gazette for 7 March 1918 (issue 30561, p. 2938):
  "Awarded the Military Cross.
   2nd Lt. (T./ Lt.) Lionel Walmsley, E. York.R., Spec. Res., and R.F.C.
   For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty while acting as an observer.  During a flight over enemy lines the petrol pipe burst.
   With great coolness he attempted to stop the leak in spite of great danger from fire, eventually enabling the pilot to land safely.
   He has consistently done very fine work throughout."
As you already know, Walmsley was a well-known author of autobiographical adventure books and he died at Fowey, Cornwall, 8 June 1966
Euan Dickson served in the R.N.A.S. and R.A.F. (9-N, 5-N, and 205 Squadron) so John Dickson must be the 26 Squadron airman.

Regards

Trelawney

[Dolphin]

Alan

The East Africa Campaign is covered in Volume III of The War in the War.  I just had a look to see if there are any names of airmen not covered in your list.  The only ones I could find were Lts A H Bottrell and W P Brown, who crashed, and survived, about 45 miles from Tulo on 4 March 1917. Very few individual airmen are named.

I hope that this is useful.

Gareth

[Grovetown]

alanlw, on 07 March 2011 - 09:14 PM, said:

Been trying to collect names of officers (& maybe men) in RFC Squadron (SA) 26.  My sources are Leo Walmsley (So Many Loves & Flying and Sport in East Africa*) and Geoffrey Norris' History of the Royal Flying Corps. List so far is as follows:

? Batten  

  Walter D M Bell

  Francis William Brett

  Henry Courtney Brocklehurst

  William Warren Carey-Thomas

   ? Collander

  Gordon Shergold Creed

  John OR Euan Dickson

  Edwin Cheere? OR Angus Botha? Emmett

  George William Thomas Garrood

  ? Hewitt

  Gerard William Hodgkinson

  Bernard H E Howard

  ? Mac

  G St V Pawson

  ? Steenekampe

   ? van de(n) Spuy

  Leo Walmsley

Have tried to find men on Ancestry.co.uk who gained their aviator's certificate at roughly the right period (1911-1917) and created the following overview:

Officers in RFC Squadron 26.jpg

Surprisingly there were few officers with more than one possible candidate. I need to look in their Air Ministry records (AIR 76) at the National Archives to really confirm they were in this squadron of course. Ideally the war diary too. From the photos I have found with the Aviator's Certificate I think I may have two that are in our own collection of photos - they are Howard as mentioned before and Hodgkinson who became a wing commander eventually.

Does anyone have more info about any of these guys?

* I have been unable to find Leo Walmsley's "Flying & Sport in East Africa" to buy anywhere.I have found a copy on Google Books but that only allows partial preview (though enough to find some of the names above). Does anyone know where I can get hold of a copy?

Alan

You can add Gordon Osmand to that. Joined April 1st 1916. Left for 34 Sqdn March 11th 1917. Subsequently declared unfit (malaria?), and made Equipment Officer 2nd Class. RAeC Cert no. 1769, dated 17-09-1915.

Cheers,

GT.

Attached Files

•  RAeC Osmand #2 - Copy.jpg   76.1K   0 downloads

[alanlw]

Thanks for everyone's replies and apologies for the "radio silence" on my part. We were extremely busy finalising our talk on Courtney Brocklehurst which we gave a couple of days ago. Life can now begin to return to normal.
I will add the various people you mention to my list of airmen to look out for in Brocklehurst's photos, and amend some of the details I have, so thanks for the info.

Re Leo (Lionel) Walmsley I have been in touch with the Walmsley Society who have been very helpful.  They sent me a photo of him on home leave in 1915 (before he joined the RFC) and it appears he was injured and in hospital in Dar Es Salaam a month or two before Brocklehurst arrived in GEA. He was then transferred elsewhere.

The print run for the book "Flying and Sport in East Africa" was only 500, so copies are very rare. The last one to appear for sale sold for over GBP 300 - much more than I would be willing to pay. Strange that Google Books have bothered to scan it as the book is not for sale anywhere. It does contain some photos though "all simply aerial shots of the terrain apart from one of two leopard cubs which he says became the squadron's mascots."  They also tell me "Conditions were apparently so bad that probably more than just Howard flew 'on whisky' - so many of the men regularly succumbed to malaria (when they weren't suffering dysentery) that whisky was used as the first medicinal remedy.  According to his account, Walmsley himself regularly flew while suffering illness of one kind or another.  "

Meanwhile I'm trying to get hold of a copy of "Shells and Bright Stones" which is a biography of Walmsley's life and has a decent section on his time in GEA.

Thanks again.

Alan

[bushfighter]

I heard (unconfirmed) that Hull Museum has a collection of Leo Walmsley's photos, which may be useful to you.

Harry

[Paul21455]

This man was a 26 Squadron casualty, about whom I seek more information, and if possible a picture of his headstone in Morogoro Cemetery, Tanzania.

His CWGC entry is here:


http://www.cwgc.org/...casualty=124334


He's on my local war memorial, and I would love to know more about him.  I understand that as a AMI, he is unlikely to have been engaged in flying duties, and is more than likely to have succumbed to disease, rather than combat injuries.

Anything & everything relating to him  would be of interest.

Thanks,

Paul.

[alanlw]

Paul21455, on 25 March 2011 - 06:49 PM, said:

This man was a 26 Squadron casualty, about whom I seek more information, and if possible a picture of his headstone in Morogoro Cemetery, Tanzania.

His CWGC entry is here:


http://www.cwgc.org/...casualty=124334


He's on my local war memorial, and I would love to know more about him.  I understand that as a AMI, he is unlikely to have been engaged in flying duties, and is more than likely to have succumbed to disease, rather than combat injuries.

Anything & everything relating to him  would be of interest.

Thanks,

Paul.

Found his medal index card on Ancestry but it says very little. Can email you if you like. He's unlikely to be mentioned in the sources I list above as he was not an officer.

[Trelawney]

Dolphin, on 10 March 2011 - 11:23 AM, said:

Alan

The East Africa Campaign is covered in Volume III of The War in the War.  I just had a look to see if there are any names of airmen not covered in your list.  The only ones I could find were Lts A H Bottrell and W P Brown, who crashed, and survived, about 45 miles from Tulo on 4 March 1917. Very few individual airmen are named.

I hope that this is useful.

Gareth

Both officers have service records available from the National Archives online service, for a fee (when they complete their upgrade):
    
     Amyas Hanbury Bottrell,  AIR 76/47

     William Pringle Brown, AIR 76/61

Bottrell, the pilot, had a Royal Aero Club certificate; he was born 24 January 1896, at Villa Rica, Paraguay.
Both apparently survived the war; no CWGC listings for them.


Trelawney