gemesis Posted 24 September , 2011 Share Posted 24 September , 2011 Hi Everyone, I am after information about the 55th Sqdn. Close to my place, there's a grave of two pilots fallen the 30th of august 1918 (Latour-en-Woevre communal cemetery) I'd like to know what happened to those airmen: Second Lieutnant Robert Ian Alexander Hickes and Thomas Alfred Jones on this day. They both died at the age of 19. If no specific info can be found about them, what was the squadron doing on this day? Many thanks and best regards from France, Samuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_armstrong Posted 24 September , 2011 Share Posted 24 September , 2011 Unfortunately L Miller's "Chronicles of 55 Squadron" doesn't mention them specifically. The only things he says about that date is that the squadron targetted Thionville and Conflans. That night the Germans bombed the squadron's living quarters around 2100, catching them unawares. He says they got off lightly with minor damage, but a dud fell very close to the officers' mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank_East Posted 24 September , 2011 Share Posted 24 September , 2011 At the time of the loss of these two aircrew,No 55 Squadron was based at Azelot and equipped with the DH 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Martyn Posted 24 September , 2011 Share Posted 24 September , 2011 Samuel, DH4 D8396 - failed to return from raid on Thionville-Conflans. (From Air-Britain's The D.H.4/D.H.9 File by Ray Sturtivant and Gordon Page) Errol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 25 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 25 September , 2011 Mates, Thank you very much for all of those usefull informations. Thionville and Conflans were two big train stations targets at that time. Do you know if it's possible to find photos of the 55 Sqdn. at Azelot ? The best would be photos with the pilots of the Sqdn, and maybe finding their names on it (National Archives ?). Thanks, Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlight Posted 25 September , 2011 Share Posted 25 September , 2011 Hi Sam, The raids on the railway sidings at Thionville / Conflans on the night of the 30th August 1918 were disastrous for 55 squadron. According to Trevor Henshaw's "The Sky Their Battlefield", high winds and bad weather caused them to abandon the original target of Koln or Colenz. The eleven aircraft that reached the target were attacked before and after the bombing by a number of enemy aircraft, with the result that five aircraft were lost. The squadron's casualties for that evening were 4 taken prisoner of war, 5 killed in action (including Lts Hickes and Jones) , 2 died of wounds and 1 wounded in action. Three enemy aircraft were brought down in the action. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 26 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Hi Steve, thanks for sharing it. Such an amazing story and yes, a very bad day for 55 squadron ! That would be really interesting to know which german squadron was in front of them, is that possible to find it ? And also, would it be possible to find photos related to this story ? Thanks, Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlight Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Hi Sam, I've had a quick look at "Casualties of the German Air Services" for that day and of those which have specified the German unit involved against the name of the pilot or observer killed, none had a location of death that was anywhere near Thionville. However, in Trevor Henshaw's "The Sky Their Battlefield", against the entry for one of the DH4s of 55 squadron that was shot down that night he has inserted [Ja 18?]. Perhaps, if Trevor reads this post, he could add more light to this. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fetubi Posted 26 September , 2011 Share Posted 26 September , 2011 Hi Steve and Sam, These are my expanded current TSTB entries for 55 Squadron this day. Additional information has come in from Returning Prisoner statements, squadron diaries, and, I suspect, with recognition to info contained in Keith Rennles' superb "Independent Force." Can't exactly nail down the Jasta 18 query, except to emphasise there is a question mark after it! Any input is very welcome. Trevor A7589 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE Sidings combat with EAs then pulled out after AA hit shot down by further 9 EAs attack ftl near target MIA (2Lt WW Tanney USAS. WIA POW/2Lt AJC Gormley Irl. POW) WIA chest, left 8-35am [see claims below] Δ A7708.K DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE Sidings combat with EAs on return engine shot up ftl near METZ MIA (2Lt HH Doehler USAS POW/2Lt AS Papworth POW) left 8-35am, Doehler escaped for 3 days [Ja18?] Δ A7783 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE Sidings shot down ftl cr near TOUL wr (2Lt PJ Cunningham Irl. DoW/2Lt JG Quinton DoW) left 8-35am, pilot DoW on landing Δ A7972 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE Sidings combat with EAs MIA (2Lt TH Laing KIA/2Lt TFL Myring KIA) left 8-35am ['DH4' claim combat sAMANNWEILER 11am Ltn A Raben Ja18] ['DH4' claim combat ENNERCHEN Ltn G von Büren Ja18] ['DH4' claim combat HERMÉVILLE Ltn W Frickart Ja65] Δ A8069 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE Sidings combat with EAs [++ooc] controls shot up cr ldg WoL PONT ST VINCENT swNANCY dam (Lt SL Dowswell OK/2Lt HTC Gompertz WIA) left 8-35am Δ D8396 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE - CONFLANS combat with 6 Pfalz seen going down in control MIA (2Lt RIA Hickes KIA/2Lt TA Jones KIA) left 8-35am [see claims above] Δ F5711 DH4 55Sqn (I.F.) **B THIONVILLE - CONFLANS combat with EAs landed WoL PONT ST VINCENT (2Lt E Wood OK/2Lt CE Thorp DoW) left 8-35am Δ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 28 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 28 September , 2011 Steve and Trevor, Many thanks for your inputs, this day was a disaster for the 55 Sqdn. ! To me, all is perfectly clear about the enemy units: the Jasta 18, called the "Red Noses" was stationned near by Metz from the 14th of June 1918 to the end of the war and the Jasta 65 was stationned at Mars-la-Tour from the 6th of mai to the 14th of september 1918. Those two airfields were really close to the combat places. Trevor, could you just explain me why there are four claims under the same aircraft A7972 ? I can see : DH4' claim combat sAMANNWEILER 11am Ltn A Raben Ja18, DH4' claim combat ENNERCHEN Ltn G von Büren Ja18, DH4' claim combat HERMÉVILLE Ltn W Frickart Ja65 Are these claims for this unique aicraft of for all the day of combats ? Ltn R August Raben was the commander of the Jasta 18 at that time. Ps: Could you just give me the abbreviations of: " [++ooc] controls shot up cr ldg WoL", "shot down ftl cr near TOUL wr", and "OK" ? Cheers, Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 28 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 28 September , 2011 Well, I would share it with you because everything is described in the beautiful Greg VanWyngarden's "Jasta 18, the red noses" (Osprey) A7589 DH4: "One of the DH4s, hit by flak, dropped out of formation and was quickly set upon by four Fokker DVIIs, two Triplanes and two Pfalz. The De Havilland was badly riddled and the pilot, Lt. Tanney, was wounded twice in the chest. Struggling to remain conscious, he managed to put his machine down behind enemy lines. The victorious German pilot landed nearby and helped the observer, 2Lt Gormley, lift the unconscious pilot from the front cockpit. Both IAF crewmen survived as POWs. A8069 DH4: "Gompertz ran out of ammunition and was lightly wounded in the running battle, but his pilot succeeded in crash_landing within his own lines, despite having the left aileron controls shot away" A7708.K DH4: "Ltn Raben latched onto DH4 7708 marked with a white K on its nose. He succeeded in forcing the crew of pilot 2Lt Doehler and Observer 2Lt Papworth down to a landing two km south Amanweiler at 1200 hrs for his fourth and ultimate victory, and his victims were lucky to survive as prisoners." A7972 DH4 and A7783 DH4: "The crews of two others "Fours" were not so fortunate, 2Lts Laing and Myring being killed in Germany territory, while the wounded crew of Lts Cunningham and Quinton somehow made it back across the lines to crash near Toul - both men later died." "Only one of the six DH4s in the first formation from No 55Sqdn landed untouched at Azelot" About the D8396 DH4, 2Lt RIA Hickes and 2Lt TA Jones should have been shot down by the Jasta 64, according to the "6 Pfalz". I just have to know who was credited of it in that unit. Thanks, Samuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fetubi Posted 28 September , 2011 Share Posted 28 September , 2011 Well, I would share it with you because everything is described in the beautiful Greg VanWyngarden's "Jasta 18, the red noses" (Osprey) A7589 DH4: "One of the DH4s, hit by flak, dropped out of formation and was quickly set upon by four Fokker DVIIs, two Triplanes and two Pfalz. The De Havilland was badly riddled and the pilot, Lt. Tanney, was wounded twice in the chest. Struggling to remain conscious, he managed to put his machine down behind enemy lines. The victorious German pilot landed nearby and helped the observer, 2Lt Gormley, lift the unconscious pilot from the front cockpit. Both IAF crewmen survived as POWs. A8069 DH4: "Gompertz ran out of ammunition and was lightly wounded in the running battle, but his pilot succeeded in crash_landing within his own lines, despite having the left aileron controls shot away" A7708.K DH4: "Ltn Raben latched onto DH4 7708 marked with a white K on its nose. He succeeded in forcing the crew of pilot 2Lt Doehler and Observer 2Lt Papworth down to a landing two km south Amanweiler at 1200 hrs for his fourth and ultimate victory, and his victims were lucky to survive as prisoners." A7972 DH4 and A7783 DH4: "The crews of two others "Fours" were not so fortunate, 2Lts Laing and Myring being killed in Germany territory, while the wounded crew of Lts Cunningham and Quinton somehow made it back across the lines to crash near Toul - both men later died." "Only one of the six DH4s in the first formation from No 55Sqdn landed untouched at Azelot" About the D8396 DH4, 2Lt RIA Hickes and 2Lt TA Jones should have been shot down by the Jasta 64, according to the "6 Pfalz". I just have to know who was credited of it in that unit. Thanks, Samuel. That's what I call input! The reason for the multiple listings under just one of the aircraft was that I was unclear of exact aircraft-on-aircraft attributions and was listing likely German candidates just the once and then saying "see above" and "see below" in the other likely linked aircraft. I should always make that clearer when I use this approach, but I get so mean of space to fit all the info in that I can get a bit minimal! Sorry! Regards, Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 28 September , 2011 Author Share Posted 28 September , 2011 Trevor, Your listing was so helpfull for me so your approach was the good, no problem ! Do you know if among the POW, some of them wrote something later ? That would be so interesting to read their own point of view. Thanks, Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwaeng Posted 19 January , 2012 Share Posted 19 January , 2012 Close to my place, there's a grave of two pilots fallen the 30th of august 1918 (Latour-en-Woevre communal cemetery) I'd like to know what happened to those airmen: Second Lieutnant Robert Ian Alexander Hickes and Thomas Alfred Jones on this day. They both died at the age of 19. If no specific info can be found about them, what was the squadron doing on this day? I can give you some more details about what happened to them: I found out some days ago that my grandfather Johannes Voigt-Christiansen (he flew as Johannes Christiansen) of Jasta 67 shot down the plane of Hickes and Jones (D8396; an Airco D.H. 4) over Latour En Woevre. The plane crashed exactly in front of the church of this small village. I have 3 photos showing my grandfather in front of the church and the completely destroyed D.H.4 with some dozen spectators... Not the best thing to found out that he was responsible for the death of two 19 year old boys.... Sven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwaeng Posted 20 January , 2012 Share Posted 20 January , 2012 Hi Samuel, I just got a mail that you seem to have sent me a private message. Sadly I can not read this, since I am new to the forum and I think I have to have made more than 5 posts before I have access to the PMs... So maybe you have to contact me via writing in this thread.... Sorry, seems to be an anti spam rule in this forum, or something like that... If you are from Latour En Woevre it may be interesting for you to see the photos.... I have made scans of them and can post them in this thread if anyone has interest in them.... Sven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwaeng Posted 21 January , 2012 Share Posted 21 January , 2012 I think I should post at least some of the pictures of the photo album of my grandfather (he died of cancer in 1943) showing the crashed DH4 in front of the church of Latour En Woevre. You can easily identify the "D8396" on the rudder of the DH4. The person on the left with the leather cap is my grandfather Johannes Christiansen (Voigt-Christiansen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwaeng Posted 21 January , 2012 Share Posted 21 January , 2012 The second one shows the church of Latour En Woevre in the background: compare this with an actual Google Streetview photo of the church in Latour En Woevre: And the last one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deHavillandFan Posted 18 March , 2012 Share Posted 18 March , 2012 Great pictures Sven, thanks for sharing. Your grandfather was doing his duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils d Posted 25 March , 2012 Share Posted 25 March , 2012 ln photo 2 the soldier on the right by the wingtip with the medals seems to be Austrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 25 March , 2012 Share Posted 25 March , 2012 There seem to be a few men in Austro-Hungarian uniform on the right of the first very interesting photograph. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemesis Posted 31 March , 2012 Author Share Posted 31 March , 2012 Yes, it is very interesting to see some austrians on the pictures. In fact, there were absolutely no soliders of that nation during nearly all the war time in this Region (Lorraine) but with the St Mihiel offensive made by the American Expeditionnary Force, some regiments of austrians were there in the 2nd half of 1918. Those photos are amazing for many points of view... Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhickes Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 Hi just picking up threads on my relative, Robert IA Hickes and I would be pleased if anyone can tell me any more about his life in the RFC and the events in August 1918. Sven - if you have any more information or memorabilia from your Grandfather about the incident involving my Great Uncle, I'd be most interested. Robert Ian Alexander Hickes (born 12th January 1899 in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire), was the only son (I think) of Robert Jonathon Hickes (born 1858 in Stockton on Tees, Durham) and Mary Hickes (nee MacKay - born 26th September 1868 in Balquhidder, Scotland). Robert J Hickes was the eldest of 11 Children of Jonathon Hickes (b. 1834 in Scampston or Hildenley, Yorkshire) and Ann Eliza Hickes (nee Hudson, born 1838 in Millington, Yorkshire). The family were farmers in Stockton on Tees during the 1850-1870 period, before most of the family returned to East Yorkshire. My branch of the family still live in Stockton on Tees today. My Great Grandfather was George Francis Hickes (born 1865 in Stockton on Tees, Durham) and my Grand Father was Ronald George Hardy Hickes (born 19th June 1896 in Stockton on Tees and died around 1974, also in Stockton). My Grandfather (Ronald GH Hickes) also served in the RFC/RAF between 1914 and 1919 as ground crew (as far as we're aware), but we've been unable to find much information about him; although my father remembers his army number as '8381'. If anyone can give me any information they have about my relatives and they're military lives, I'd be most interested. Alternatively, if you can suggest any sources of information that I could try. Tim Hickes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils d Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 Tim Try the Durham county archives for leads. They hold a Roll of Honour for Darlington listing all servicemen [and women] Perhaps also an absent voters list , or was George still under age for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimCornish Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 Great story - my gr-gr uncle was 55 Sqn's CO, Major A Gray, at the time of this occurring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhickes Posted 17 May , 2018 Share Posted 17 May , 2018 Thanks for all the responses. I'll do a bit of digging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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