Cpl. S. Easton, RFC

[jwfwarsaw]

Good evening,

I'm researching my great-grandfather, Sidney Francis Easton of Barnet. He was in the RFC for part of the war, but later ended up in the army.

The family tale is that he was an airborne sniper early on in the war, having been a crack shot because he used to catch rabbits in the nursery that he ran in Barnet. There was supposedly some disciplinary incident -- said to have involved him and a pilot taking a plane aloft without permission and crashing it. As a result, he found himself in the army and was gassed on the Somme,. In hospital in London, he met my great-grandmother, a Swansea war widow who had moved to there to work as a VAD after he husband went missing at Loos. They married in 1920.

I've been told that there is a Cpl. S. Easton with regimental number 11558 , whose record is in AIR 79/141/11558. But these files cannot be downloaded, and are only viewable at Kew. Unfortunately, I'm not based in the UK. If any GWF members with an interest in the RFC are Kew-bound and could lend a hand, I'd be most grateful. He is not listed in the April 1918 muster roll, so he didn't transfer for the RAF.

I have got hold of a record of a plane crashing in November 1917, with a Cpl. Easton listed as the observer (attached). It's not impossible that the family memory of his having been gassed on the Somme is misplaced (my great-grandmother's first husband was said to have been killed there too, but I managed to confirm that he actually died at Loos), and that he was actually gassed at another battle and found himself grounded only at the end of 1917. He died in 1945 at the age of 50, as a result of his lingering Great War frailty coupled with wounds suffered during the Blitz.

I attach a couple of picture of him in RFC uniform and flying leathers, though they don't appear to have sufficient distinguishing marks to help flesh out his record.

Best regards to all.

Jonathan

[Simon Birch]

Jonathan.

I may be able to help you a little with this - send me a PM - His AIR79 file (but only one page of it) can now be downloaded.

Simon

[jwfwarsaw]

On 15/09/2014 at 14:44, Simon Birch said:

Jonathan.

I may be able to help you a little with this - send me a PM - His AIR79 file (but only one page of it) can now be downloaded.

Simon

Simon, I don't know how I managed to miss this. Six years on, deeply embarrassing. PMing you now.

I hope all's well with you.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Simon Birch]

Replied to you PM.

 

Simon