Lt Arthur Frank IAGO

[Perth Digger]

Lt Arthur Frank Iago served with 70 Squadron, having come to the RFC via 2/Lt West Yorkshire Regiment and Lt KRRC. I can find almost no other information, except that he was attached to 70 Squadron on 28 August 1916 and in the late 1920s he was involved with a patent for a toy helicopter! An Arthur Frank JAGO was born in Stoke Newington in 1889. 

Any help gratefully received.

thanks

Mike

[michaelpi]

You'll know the London Gazette has him (A F Iago) relinquishing his (KRRC) commission on age grounds on 9 April 1949?  Retaining the rank of captain.

Which would be quite a feat if he is the same Arthur Frank Iago who died in Worthing, Sussex,  on 21 September 1948, aged 59 , i.e. born c1889.

Edited 20 April , 2022 by michaelpi

[Tawhiri]

Searching for Arthur Frank Lago, rather than Iago, produces a few more hits in the Gazette. The joys of OCR, and telling an I from an L.

Commissioning as a probationary 2nd Lieutenant with the 4th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment on 15 August 1914

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28899/page/7226

Confirmed in his rank in June 1915

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29186/page/5519

Promoted to Lieutenant on 18 September 1915

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29322/supplement/10010

Seconded for service with the King's African Rifles on 8 October 1917

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30800/supplement/8431

Having had a closer look at his medal index card, I suspect the KRRC is a transcription error, and that the card actually reads K. A. Rif., which would be consistent with his secondment to the King's African Rifles in October 1917. Edited to add that he qualified for a full trio of 1914-15 Star, British War, and Victory Medals, with a qualifying date for the 1914-15 Star of 30 June 1915 in France.

Finally, my interpretation of the dates on the following Casualty Form would be that he was only with the RFC from 28 August 1916 to 14 September 1916, when he rejoined his unit.

https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/12150

Post-war he seems to have become a solicitor, judging by his occasional mentions in the Gazette between 1921 and 1948. FamilySearch also produces a couple of possible marriages, one in 1920 to a Noreen H Fitzgerald in Kensington, London, England, and another in 1940 to a Laura S Douglas-McKenzie in Surrey, England. The death of a Nora Helen Iago, born 1 December 1892 was registered in 1970 in Kent, England, while the death of a Laura Susanna Iago, born 3 August 1910, was registered in 1996 in Sussex, England. As noted above Arthur Frank Iago died on 21 September 1948, the beneficiaries of his will were Laura Susanna Douglas Iago and two others.

Edited 21 April , 2022 by Tawhiri

[TullochArd]

Intentional Deletion - Repetition - Tawhiri beat me to it.

Edited 20 April , 2022 by TullochArd

[Perth Digger]

Thank you all for your assistance. He's probably an example of a prospective Observer who found flying (physically?) disagreeable. He left 70 Squadron one day before they suffered heavy casualties after meeting Boelke's unit.

 

Mike

[Rosemary Iago]

Hi there Perth Digger! 

Just came across your posts whilst trying to remember exact date of my father's death. Sadly, he died a few weeks before my birth in Worthing, Sussex, in December 1948. 

A second family, he left four young children, including myself, and I think that my mother was so consumed with grief that she shut off emotionally. Hence I was never told much about him and truly lived with a ghost of a father. So it's nice to gain snippets of information from wherever. Thank you! And sorry I can't be more of an informer, although I did inherit some medals. I know he was never a solicitor but a London estate agent with an office in Knightsbridge next to Harrods. Also a great amateur tennis player who coached two daughters from his first marriage to the doors of Wimbledon, although WW2  sabotaged this opportunity.

One childhood memory I do have is his revolver being kept in the linen cupboard. And although I never knew him, I have come to realise that we share many traits and that his absence in my life profoundly shaped it. 

On reflection, I also know that my father was prone to high blood pressure (reticent to fly?) and was haemophiliac, although there was no diagnosis in those days. This only became apparent when my own son was born with the genetic condition. 

Useless ramblings I know, but I do find ancestry and people fascinating. I hope you do too 😏

Thanks again for the remembrance (hence my name Rosemary).

All best wishes, 

Rose Iago

 

 

 

[WhiteStarLine]

Rosemary, that is just brilliant and what this forum is all about!  Your family data has fleshed out a character after over a century has elapsed.

Cheers, Bill

 

[Perth Digger]

Thank you so much, Rose, for sharing your family memories. They may not have known much about haemophilia at the time, but I wonder if when flying at altitude your father may have had persistent and heavy nosebleeds? 

As Bill says, this forum helps us enormously to see that behind every name is a unique personality. A tennis playing, toy inventing estate agent. Who'd have thought it!

Thanks again

Mike

[Rosemary Iago]

Glad it helped paint a picture. Amazing power of Internet! Are you UK based? 

 

[Perth Digger]

No, Perth WA.

[Rosemary Iago]

1 minute ago, Rosemary Iago said:

Glad it helped paint a picture. Amazing power of Internet! Are you UK based? 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Perth Digger said:

Thank you so much, Rose, for sharing your family memories. They may not have known much about haemophilia at the time, but I wonder if when flying at altitude your father may have had persistent and heavy nosebleeds? 

As Bill says, this forum helps us enormously to see that behind every name is a unique personality. A tennis playing, toy inventing estate agent. Who'd have thought it!

Thanks again

Mike

 

[Rosemary Iago]

Just now, Rosemary Iago said:

 

 

Hi Mike, I didn't know my father had flown but as I daid, know little about him. My mother did tell me he bled easily so probably did have nosebleeds. I am surprised he was able to serve at all with his condition - severity of haemophilia doesn't change from generation to generation and my son had suffefed terribly.. 

[Rosemary Iago]

Just now, Rosemary Iago said:

Hi Mike, I didn't know my father had flown but as I daid, know little about him. My mother did tell me he bled easily so probably did have nosebleeds. I am surprised he was able to serve at all with his condition - severity of haemophilia doesn't change from generation to generation and my son had suffefed terribly.. 

Interesting to note he left squadron 70 the day before great losses.  My destiny! 

[Perth Digger]

Life is a lottery. You win some, lose some.

[Sinbad Glen]

Thanks for the history Rosemary ❤

Quote

Interesting to note he left squadron 70 the day before great losses. 

Quote

My destiny! 

Something I often ponder myself, given how few of 1st ESR were left by 1915...