Ernest Harding RFC

[Andy Wade]

Hello, looking for some help please, about Ernest Harding of Keighley whom I know served in the RFC during WW1. I'm researching him for the Men of Worth Project.

I have a picture of him here:

As you can see from his shoulder flash he is RFC (it's a bit clearer on the original) but his family tell me that he was ground crew, working on the wooden parts of the aircraft as he was a joiner by trade. But is this a typical ground crew tunic? Its just that I'd expected that the reason for the 'fold over front' on the tunic was to keep airmen warm whilst flying (amongst other clothing items) and wondered why he is wearing one if he is ground crew?

The other thing is researching his service records. I can't pin anything down in Ancestry (other than census and BMD stuff), but I have found three 'Ernest Harding' entries in the National Archives, but naturally I don't want to order all three (they aren't digitised) because of the cost and wondered if there was any way I could narrow the search down a bit. Looking at the archive numbers I'm wondering if the last bit is a service number in each case?

I have:

AIR 79/322/32779 Ernest Harding

AIR 79/2363/267904 Ernest Harding

AIR 79/2796/328066 Ernest Harding

Even if it could be said that these are service numbers we don't have a record of his service number anyway but his family think his medals were sold off by his widow who was left penniless when he died after falling off the roof of the Brown Cow pub in Bingley, West Yorkshire in 1928, dying of meningitis in hospital some days after the accident.

If I can positively identify his service number it might give me a better line of inquiry when asking on the medal forums. The family are resigned to the likelihood that they will never get his medals back, but a service number would help us get the service records and I'm hoping that we can confirm the number from a medal engraving.

Many thanks in advance for any comments.

[hmsk212]

Hi Andy,

You are correct in that the last set of numbers are the service numbers and the Air79/322 etc are the references to the books in which they can be found. The only man that I can help with is 32779, he is on the Nominal roll for the RAF as having joined on 15th June 1917 and his trade was as a Rigger (Aero). I will be going to Kew next week so if I have time I can look the 3 men up and let you know which one is your man.

Steve

[hmsk212]

Hi Andy,

Was Ernest Hardy his full name as there are a further 5 men in the Air79s that had a middle name ?

Steve

[Andy Wade]

Hi Steve,

That is a fantastic offer, many thanks for that!

I know that time is of the essence at Kew so no probs if you don't manage it.

His full name is definitely Ernest Harding and I've confirmed that again today with his Granddaughter, which means we can rule out anyone with a middle name.

He was born in the first quarter of 1884 in Wilsden, Bradford, West Yorkshire and would have been 30 years old at the start of the war. At enlistment he was probably still living at 5, Chapel Lane, Keighley with his wife Sarah Harding (nee Rothera) and two sons called Charles Henry and Frank who were born in 1911 and 1914 respectively.

His family apparently have a wooden bowl made by him from bits of aircraft from when he was serving. I'm hoping to see it and get a picture of it, along with a photo of him posing by an aircraft, which I haven't seen yet. If it has a visible tail number on the photo we may be able to put that information to good effect as well.

Cheers,

Andy.

[Phil Evans]

Andy,

The first one on the list 32779) looks favourite - civilian intake June 1916.

The other two, according to a list I have,are post-formation of the RAF.

267904 is civilian intake June/July 1918.

328066 is civilian (boys) intake Dec 1918, Jan & March 1919

Phil

[Andy Wade]

Thank you Phil, that's very helpful.

[hmsk212]

Hi Andy,

And the winner is :-

32779 Corporal Mechanic Ernest Harding.

Born 1882, married 26/11/1910, son Frank born 01/06/1911, son Charles Henry born 04/03/1914, living 5 Chapel Lane, Keighley, Yorks, carpenter by trade.

Served RFC from 15/06/1916 as a Rigger ( Aero). In France from 07/12/1916 to 15/01/1919.

Served initially with 57 Squadron until moving to 19 Squadron on 01/09/1917.

Transferred to G Reserve on 12/02/1919

Deemed discharged 30/04/1920

War & Victory medals issued in September 1921

Steve

[Andy Wade]

That's fantastic Steve, brilliant news!

Is that Ernest's whole record or just a listing for a full set of service records? Ideally I'd like to order the full service record from them if it's more comprehensive.

Many thanks indeed for looking this up for me.

Kind regards,

Andy.

[Andy Wade]

Just to update anyone who is interested, Steve has very kindly photographed the two pages of the RAF service record for me at Kew and emailed them through. It means that we now have just about everything that's available for Ernest Harding and he will now have a completed biography in the Men of Worth archive.

Many thanks Steve for your efforts in this, it's much appreciated. It also demonstrates clearly what we all know and that is the huge value that this forum has.

Incidentally Ernest's granddaughter has just found another picture of Ernest standing with one of the aircraft he worked on during the war. Once I've had chance to meet up with her and scan it, I will share it on here to see what else we can discover. Using his service record and any details on the picture we might be able to work out what type it is and where the picture was taken as we now know where he served. Watch this space folks...

[Andy Wade]

Well, I finally got to scan the two images of the aeroplane that Ernest Harding is standing next to and here they are, I would of course appreciate any thoughts that anyone has on them. The aircraft appears to be a Spad:

Edited to add: Just spotted what appears to be a medal ribbon on the pilot, just under his 'wings'. Anybody got an idea what it could be? Would love to know his name.

[Andy Wade]

Here's the second picture although Ernest Harding is not on it. I wonder if he took it though?

Here's the timeline we created for him based on his family information and service records:

RAF Corporal 32779 Ernest Harding:

Born 1884 in Wilsden, son of Charles and Sarah Jane Harding. His father Charles was a Worsted weaver and later a Woolcomber.
Living in Wilsden in 1890 aged 7 years with three sisters Harriet, Frances and Emma.
Living at 7, Main Street in Glusburn in 1901 aged 17 years - working as a Joiner/Carpenter.
Married Sarah Rothera at Keighley Parish Church (St Andrews) on Nov 26th 1910. Ernest was living at 28 Lustre Street, Keighley, and Sarah was at 5 Chapel Lane, Keighley, with her mother Selina Rothera (Sarah's father David Sugden Rothera, having died in 1904).
After marriage they were both living at Chapel lane during the 1911 census with Sarah's mother who was a milk dealer.
They had two sons, Frank born on 1st June 1911 and Charles Henry born 4th March 1914.
They continued to lived at 5, Chapel Lane at least until Ernest died in 1928. Selina having died in 1917.

Ernest enlisted 'for the duration of the war' with the Royal Flying Corps on 15th June 1916, his trade as a carpenter being essential for the wooden structured aircraft of the time. Height 5' 8, 3/4" and chest 32". His trade classification was 'Rigger (Aero)' Rank airman 2nd class.
He served with 57 Squadron, then 19 Squadron from 1st September 1917. Gained Airman 1st Class on 1st November 1917 and was promoted to Corporal Mechanic on 1st September 1918.
19 Squadron flew 'B.E.12's' and French 'Spad' aircraft. and later on in 1918, Sopwith Dolphins.
He served in France from 7th December 1916 to 15th January 1919 with the final rank of Corporal Mechanic.
During this time the Royal Air Force was formed in 1st April 1918 and Ernest transferred over from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly formed RAF with a new service number of 35424.
He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his war service.
He was transferred to the RAF Reserve on 12th February 1919 and was 'Deemed discharged' on 3th April 1920.

Ernest survived the war and continued to work as a carpenter/joiner and was tragically killed, apparently falling (whilst working) from the roof of the Brown Cow pub in Bingley on 8th September 1928, aged 44 years. Sarah died on 29th March 1944, aged 55 years.

(I cannot find any contemporary newspaper report of Ernest's death or any inquest - the story comes from his family)

[topgun1918]

I think the pilot in the first photograph looks like John Leacroft MC. Leacroft achieved 14 victories flying the Spad with No 19 Sqn between June and October 1917 and a further eight flying the Dolphin between March and May 1918. His MC was announced in the London Gazette of 27 October 1917 with the Citation appearing in the London Gazette of 18 March 1918. The Bar to his MC was Gazetted on 22 June 1918.

Graeme

[Andy Wade]

That's a brilliant spot Graeme!

I think you're right and it would concur with Ernest Harding's service with 19 Squadron.

Heres' some more information about Leacroft

[mickdavis]

The second of the 2 photos is very interesting because it shows a unit level modification on 19 Sqn SPADs that is featured in CCI 45/3. During summer 1917, the squadron appears to have removed the louvred carb access panels, to enhance cooling of the Hisso engines, and covered the open area with chicken wire - to prevent debris access.

[Andy Wade]

I was going to ask about that!

The far aircraft appears to have a louvred panel whilst the one in front has the wire mesh. I wasn't sure if they were different models.

Could this imply that the weather was hot and it was summer at the time of the photograph?