jimmyjames Posted 18 April , 2004 Share Posted 18 April , 2004 This young RAF officer, a bomber pilot I believe, died on 11th November 1918, Armistice Day. He may well have been a POW when he died. I would be very grateful for any information on his service in the RFC/RAF. He previously enlisted into the Public Schools Battalion, and then commissioned in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Many thanks Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 18 April , 2004 Share Posted 18 April , 2004 Capt D R G MacKay was the pilot of DH4 F5725 of No 55 Sqn Independent Force RAF, with 2Lt H T C Gompertz as his observer when shot down and fatally wounded during a bombing raid on Cologne on 10 November 1918. Both airmen were taken PoW and Capt MacKay died of wounds the next day. Capt MacKay featured in an earlier discussion on the Forum under 'Soldiers/The Last Casualty' as he may have been the last British serviceman to die before the Armistice came into effect. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted 19 April , 2004 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2004 Thanks, Dolphin. I managed to miss the earlier thread on Capt Mackay but I have caught up with it now! Interestingly, he is buried in the Joef Communal Cemetery, Meurthe-en-Moselle and is the only Empire serviceman buried there. It is in the Metz/Nancy area of France, due east of Paris. What was he doing down there, or was it just the circumstances of his death as a POW. Any idea how he earned his DFC. Best regards Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 19 April , 2004 Share Posted 19 April , 2004 Jimmy The citation for Captain MacKay's posthumous DFC is below. It was Gazetted on 3 December 1918. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 20 April , 2004 Share Posted 20 April , 2004 Jimmy Further to my earlier post, if you'll let me know your direct email address, I can send you an extract from Keith Rennles' 'Independent Force' with an account of Capt MacKay's DFC exploit. I tried posting it here, but without success. Capt MacKay is the third from the left in the photograph of No 55 Sqn officers below. Interestingly, the pilot on MacKay's right is Lt W E Johns, who went on to write the 'Biggles' series of books after being shot down and taken PoW on 16 September 1918 while flying DH4 F5712. Cheers again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted 20 April , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 April , 2004 Hi Dolphin Looking at Capt MacKay's citation he was a extraordinarily brave young man. The group photo is remarkable - all those smiling young faces. Is Gompertz (the chap MacKay was shot down with on 10th November) in the snap? Any idea who the chap in the lighter coloured uniform is? Yes, I would be grateful for sight of of an extract Keith Rennies work. I will PM you. With very many thanks Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 20 April , 2004 Share Posted 20 April , 2004 Jimmy First of all, an apology for omitting three key words from my earlier post: ' the middle row of ' between 'in' and 'the photograph ' were in the draft, but somehow missed the final. I suspect a problem between chair and keyboard. The officer in the pale blue RAF uniform isn't identified. Looking at it, one can perhaps see why the initial RAF issue wasn't popular and, also, why the Imperial Russian Cavalry colour that replaced it was more welcome. The other officers are in either RFC or USAS khaki. Lt Harry Christopher Travers Gompertz isn't identified in the photograph. He was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery before moving to the RFC in August 1917, being confirmed in the RAF in June 1918. He was wounded in the shoulder on 30 August 1918 while flying with Lt S L Dowdeswell in DH4 A8069 of No 55 Sqn. Gompertz was credited with five aerial victories, three with Capt MacKay and two on 30 August with Lt Dowdeswell. I'll send more information to your adddress. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted 21 April , 2004 Author Share Posted 21 April , 2004 Dolphin Info received and much appreciated. Regards Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec McCudden Posted 21 April , 2004 Share Posted 21 April , 2004 Dolphin, The caption on my copy of the same photograph from 'Cross and Cockade' Magazine, Vol 24, No 4 indicates that Mackay was in the back row, third from the left. I was left a bit confused by your typing error. The photograph was taken at Azelot in early September 1918. Alec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 21 April , 2004 Share Posted 21 April , 2004 Alec and Jimmy I'll get this right eventually! Alec is correct, Capt Mackay and Lt Johns are in the back, repeat back, row. Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted 24 April , 2004 Author Share Posted 24 April , 2004 Many thanks, gents. Regards Jimmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest G.Allen Posted 18 August , 2016 Share Posted 18 August , 2016 Hello, I found this very old (2004) thread while researching into my family history. Capt. MacKay was my mother's second cousin; it was she who told me his tragic story. I own a 19th-century sea chest which once belonged to him, and remember meeting, as a teenager, his sister, the distinguished consultant paediatrician Dr Helen MacKay, FRCP (the first woman to be elected to this distinction). I would love to have the photos of him, but the links on the forum are broken, Is there some way I can get hold of these? Best wishes, G.A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimCornish Posted 19 August , 2016 Share Posted 19 August , 2016 +1 here for photographs. Capt Mackay was a colleague of my great-grand uncle, Major A Gray MC - 55 Squadron's CO from January-Oct/Nov 1918. I have 55's squadron logbook scans for their IF raids somewhere in my documents, I'll have to find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimCornish Posted 24 March , 2017 Share Posted 24 March , 2017 Bump. Does anyone have the 55 Squadron photo? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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