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Remembered Today:

Legless, one-armed pilot


Moonraker

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I've just been reading Flying Minnows by Roger Vee (a pseudonym, I think), published in 1935. Vee was a South African who trained at Netheravon, probably late in 1917, where, one day, a SE5 landed. The pilot had a liner of ribbons below his wings and had two artificial legs and an artificial arm. He had been in the same squadron as Captain Tyrell, a trainer at Nertheravon.

Anyone any ideas as to who this might have been?

Moonraker

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AFAIK the only fighter pilot missing a limb in WW1 was Frank Alberry of No 2 squadron AFC who had one leg missing. He shot down at least two German fighters. This squadron flew SE5as. Alberry, although once having deserted, picked up medals as an infantryman before loosing his leg. I suspect that this was him but with some exaggeration.

The RAF had three legless pilots in WW2 - Bader, Hodgkinson and Finnegan but not, I think, in WW1

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I've just been reading Flying Minnows by Roger Vee (a pseudonym, I think

Moonraker

'Roger Vee' was the pen name of Lt Vivian Voss, a South African who flew in No 88 Sqn RAF.

Cheers

Gareth

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Fantastic book, the best on WW1 aviation i've ever read. One of my favourite images from the book is whilst in a dive in the Bristol F2b, chased by several Fokker Triplanes, Voss turns round to see the rear gunner, out of ammunition for the Lewis gun, throwing the drum magazines and anything else not stuck down at the chasing aircraft!

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Fantastic book, the best on WW1 aviation i've ever read. One of my favourite images from the book is whilst in a dive in the Bristol F2b, chased by several Fokker Triplanes, Voss turns round to see the rear gunner, out of ammunition for the Lewis gun, throwing the drum magazines and anything else not stuck down at the chasing aircraft!

Not totally crazy - in 1940 a Fokker pilot pursued by Me 109s jettisoned his cockpit cover in order to bale out,it struck the prop of the Emile and 'shot' it down. However I wonder if Roger Vee was not inclined to indulge in purple prose to make the story better. A Bristol Fighter was considerably faster than a Fokker DRI and could out run them very quickly.

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Not totally crazy - in 1940 a Fokker pilot pursued by Me 109s ...

Were the Germans so short of competition in 1940 that they were shooting each other down then?

:wacko:

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Fokker was a Dutch company after WW1 (Anthony Fokker was Dutch, so Dutch Air Force Fokker G.1's and D.XXI's fought against the Luftwaffe

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throwing the drum magazines and anything else not stuck down at the chasing aircraft!

When you're in a fix, you'll do anything. ISTR reading an account when an Observer/Navigator (in the 2nd WW) threw his maps out in the hope that the pursuing fighter would think his target was breaking-up and abandon the attack. It worked.

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Thanks to all, Centurion in particular. I Googled for Alberry and found

this.

Alberry was at the School of Aeronautics in Reading in August 1917 - possibly about the time of the incident described by Vee/Voss, though I don't suppose he, as a trainee pilot, would have flown solo to Netheravon, about 45 miles away.

Moonraker

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Alberry was prone to indiscipline so he might have taken himself off on a flight. In anycase pilots who had reached a certain standard were required to make solo flights to other airfields, land and then return.

BTW the top speed of a Fokker DRI was 103mph - the Falcon engined Bristol fighter could do about 115mph SOP to break of combat with a Tripe was to dive away at speed. The Tripe was very sturdy but not fast in a dive.

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Just a snippet Alberry had to petition the King in person to get the RFC to take on a one legged pilot. Goodness knows what the reaction to a mono limbed pilot would be!

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