10 Squadron RFC - CO's - Jan/Feb 1918

[Biltea]

I hope there is some member out there who can help me identify the following two officers please:

1. the CO of 10 Squadron on 19/1/18 was "Murray" (The Army List for Jan 18 has three Major Murray's as RFC Squadron Commanders);

2. A Capt Wright was in temporary command of 10 Squadron on 2/2/18 (again difficult to pin down his full name from the relevant Army List).

I've obtained the above info from an officer's war diaries and would like to know the full name of each of these two officers, if possible.

Any help will be gratefully received.

Bill

[Errol Martyn]

Bill,

Murray was New Zealander Keith Day Pearce Murray (5 July 1892 - 16 May 1981). Postwar he was an architect and designer who worked as a ceramics, glass and metalware designer for Wedgwood in the potteries area of Staffordshire in the 1930s and 1940s. He is considered one of the most influential designers of the Art Deco style.

Incidentally, his interest in things with wings dated back to 1910 when he was secretary of the then newly founded Aero Club of New Zealand in Auckland.

Errol

[ICM - RAF Retd]

Bill: I've been doing a certain amount of work on 10 Sqn in all its eras till today, and the reference to a Capt Wright being temporary OC puzzles me a bit. I don't claim omniscience or anything near it, but I would have expected a Flight Commander to have taken Maj Murray's place during any temporary absence and I've no record (thus far) of one by name of Wright. A 2nd Lt FB Wright, an Observer, was killed in action in April 1918 and there would have been many more senior officers around to be acting OC, so I really don't think it could have been him.

Errol has covered Maj Murray for you - all I can add from a contemporary source is that he would appear to have been referred to phonetically as "Kay Doh Pip" and it is clear that he was very highly regarded, indeed.

And if the officer's diaries to which you refer offer any insights into 10 Sqn operations, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Ian.

[Biltea]

Thank you to Errol and Ian

Thanks Errol for all the Info re KDP Murray. I would never have guessed he would become so famous after the Great War.

Thanks Ian for your contribution. The diaries in question belong to Lt-General Thomas Morland, GOC X Corps in the early months of 1918. His references to the RFC/RAF in his diary are very sparse I'm afraid. He only refers to 10 Squadron twice, as per my original post. Morland's hand-writing is very difficult to read, however, so I will have another look at his diaries, to see if "Wright" could be anything else. I will also look at the "Air" records at Kew to see if there are any clues there.

Thanks again to both of you - Bill