Charles Eaton

[Mitch Williamson]

Hi Everyone

I put the Charles Eaton Army bio into the 'Soldiers' section of the forum.

Here is his RFC/RAF bio.

Charles Eaton transferred with his school friend and Sergeant Charles G. Napier DCM Medaille Militaire to the RFC on 14 May 1917. It is believed that it was at Napier’s instigation and encouragement that Eaton made this step that profoundly changed the course of his life. Promoted as a Captain, Napier served with 20 and 48 Squadrons, was later decorated with the MC, and claimed nine enemy aircraft shot down. He was killed on 15 May 1918 and was buried at Arras, just four days after Eaton joined 206 Sqn at Flez/Bray Dunes France.

Eaton described his transfer to the RFC; first to Winchester on 14 May 1917; then a few weeks later to the Air Training School at Oxford in the following words:

‘How many old pilots remember the period of training at Oxford, followed by the flying training at one of the schools near London? I qualified for my Royal Aero Club Certificate after a total of 4 hours 25 minutes dual and solo flying on Farman aeroplanes. Without further due, I graduated on a Martin Light Scout [Martinsyde Scout] and received my Graduation Certificate as a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps with the total of 18 hours flying.’

Lieutenant E C Emmett DFC of the RFC taught the young Eaton to fly. A South African by birth, Emmett served in 26 Sqn in East Africa then transferred in 1917 to the School of Aerial Fighting in the United Kingdom, finally ending the war with 113 Sqn in Palestine. Emmett made a life-saving impact on his young charge when Eaton was serving with the RAAF in Australia during the 1930s.

As this excerpt from Eaton’s official RAF records indicates, he was well trained and retained within the UK till May 1918.

14/5/1917 2 GC B RFC Temp 2L Winchester

29/6/1917 Oxford (ATS) Oxford

4/8/1917 2 TS Brooklands

13/9/1917 19 TS Croydon

27/11/1917 110 Sqn Confirmed as 2Lt Sedgeford

19/12/1918 9 TS Norwich

14/3/1918 4 Aux. School of Air Gunnery

31/3/1918 1 School of Navigation & Bombing DPG

Eaton learnt to fly on a ‘pusher’, a Maurice Farman Shorthorn, with its engine and propeller mounted to the rear. Coming in to land on his first solo, another trainee also attempting to land, crashed into Eaton’s aircraft taking both the Shorthorn’s top wings off. Eaton was not injured but in his own words he was ‘quite shaken’. The other trainee was killed instantly. All Eaton’s flying activity was not just mundane training as he relates to us further.

After this period I was posted to a Defence of London squadron and endeavoured to chase the odd Zeppelins, which made their way over England at night time at that date. Although several chases were made the nearest approach to a Zeppelin was to see the big ship in the beam of a searchlight at a distance of about 5 miles’.

He mentioned later that his aircraft could not get the height required to close in on the enemy airships.

Current research on this reminiscence indicates that this possibly occurred when Eaton was with 19 Training Squadron during the 24/25 September 1917 Zeppelin raid. A New Zealander 2Lt W W Cook of B Flight, 76 Squadron, based at Flamborough flying BE2e A8863, reported that two Zeppelins were held by the searchlights before escaping in thick cloud. Cook also mentions attacking a third airship 60 miles out to sea. A total of some 37 defence aircraft were employed during this raid, although 19 TS, being based at Croydon, puts Eaton some way south of the reported action.

The RFC separated from the British Army on 1 April 1918 (All Fools’ Day) and the service was renamed the Royal Air Force. Eaton returned to France and the Western Front on 11 May as a reconnaissance/bomber pilot with 206 Squadron (ex-6 Sqn RNAS). At this time 206 Sqn was based at Alquines Aerodrome in northern France.

This further extract from his RAF record indicates that he was even capable of resurrection from the dead. For some unknown reason he is listed as having died on 3 August 1918 but subsequent revelations proved he was not a second Lazarus.

11/5/1918 206 (Rec) Sqn Flez/Bray Dunes France

29/6/1918 Missing France

11/7/1918 Believed Prisoner of War Germany

30/7/1918 Prisoner of War Germany

3/8/1918 Died Germany

14/12/19 Repatriated Holland

Flying DH9 C6240 on 7 June 1918 Eaton claimed, with Captain G L E Stevens who was flying in DH9 C1181, half a Fokker Dr. I that ‘crashed and burnt’ at 12:00 hours near Bac St Maur.

Eaton and his observer/gunner 2Lt E W Tatnall then claimed an Albatros Vee-Strutter ‘Driven down out of control’ just west of Comines, at 14.55hrs on 8 June, while flying DH9 C1181. They had just successfully bombed the target and were bringing up the rear of the formation at a height of 14,000 feet, when the combat occurred. The Narrative of the ‘Combats in the Air’ report records the action as follows:

DH9 C1181 was the last machine over the objective and just after leaving Comines was attacked by one enemy aircraft which with four other enemy aircraft climbed up under the formation.

About 100 rounds were fired at it by 2/Lt Tatnall at 300/200 yards range and the enemy aircraft thereupon went down in a spin for 3,000ft, emitting a cloud of smoke. It was still spinning and leaving a trail of smoke when lost in cloud.

The claim was subsequently disallowed.

JUMP OR BURN

Of further note is a forced landing by Eaton in DH9 D2783. Having left the aerodrome at 18:08 hours he ended up ‘pranged’ at Estrée Blanche as a result of being machined gunned by enemy aircraft on 26 June. Although this machine was a write-off, both Eaton and Tatnall were unhurt. It is not known if the damaged aircraft was on fire or if Eaton had to make the decision to ‘jump or burn’.

While on reconnaissance of a German aerodrome at Tournai on Saturday 29 June their DH9 C1177 developed engine trouble and they had to turn back for home. The DH9 got lower and lower, while the ack ack got higher and higher, and ultimately crashed into the German front forward positions. Taken prisoner, he and Tatnall immediately escaped but were soon recaptured. He details his last combat mission in his own words as follows:

‘Then once again to France, this time in De Havilland aircraft and attached to a General Headquarters Squadron. My work was chiefly long reconnaissance and bombing. This went on until June, 1918, until the 29th, a Saturday morning, when, after carrying out a special reconnaissance of the Tournay aerodrome in France, I had engine failure and immediately turned for home. The day stands out in particular. It was clear over the target and as I approached the lines the cloud base obscured the ground at 3,000 feet. On entering the clouds, still making west, they were about 1,500 feet thick and on coming out I found that I was right on top of the end trench lines.

Whether was on the German or British side I did not know until I found the aeroplane surrounded by bursting ack-ack, and in front of me could see the forest of Nieppe which I knew was on the British side. The aeroplane was headed west until it crashed into a shell hole.

The plane turned over and I was thrown out. My Observer was under the wreckage and while attempting to get him out some men came running towards the crash. Immediately they were called upon to assist and did so, and it was not until we dragged the Observer from the wreckage that I had another shock in finding that my helpers were Germans. The Observer was not badly injured and we were then taken into the trenches, when it was found that we had come down 800 yards from the British front line and just behind the German first line of trenches.’

The British front line troops had the height in their trenches to witness the whole event, and once they saw Eaton and ‘party’ were safely in the German trenches, their artillery completely demolished what remained of the DH9. In a report to the Sixth German Army Command (Armee Ober Kommando or A.O.K. 6) that was received at 17.30hrs (German time) from the Flakgruppe 49 records:

5.17pm 1 D.H. (=Havilland) 4: Bailleu - Estaire - La Gorgue - Lestrem, (shot) through Flak, lies in Pl.Qu. (plansquare) 3118 (by Lestrem).’ Further at 5.40pm Estaire, the following report went in: ‘5.12 - 5.15pm 1 D.H. 4 Laventie - Estaires, 500 h, Flak and Erd - M.G. would have been forced into landing by the Church in Lestrem’ (A.O.K. 6 pp.319).

Confusion between a De Havilland DH4 and the new De Havilland DH9 would have been a possibility. Eaton’s mission had departed at 14.15 hours (British time) on 29 June 1918. On this day in this region, no other English aircraft was recorded in the surviving German records to have landed or ‘plunged’. By careful flight time and route calculation and the 22 June trench map of the area, the author believes that the location of Eaton and Tatnall’s crash-landing is the church just south of Paradis - Eglise de Paradis.

I hope that was of interest.

Best Wishes

Mitch

[Andrew Smith]

G'day Mitch,

Thanks for the bio. I was introduce to Moth by Darryl Hackett. It really is a story that deserves to be published in a tome of some sort. He still has the best nickname of all the WW1 aviators.

Regards,

Andrew.

[Mitch Williamson]

G'day Andrew

Yes a book is in preparation, but has run into some problems, and will be delayed. At least 6 chapters are ready.

Thanks for you kind comments.

Best Wishes

Mitch