H.G.W. Debenham Pilot WW1

[marine pete]

Debenham was a ace Fighter Pilot WW1 accounting for 6 German planes over the Somme in 1918 

He flew the Sopwith Camel and I believe there is a photograph of him stood with his airplane Serial No C1659.

I wonder if anyone in the great war forum can help me with this.

regards Pete.

[aconnolly]

Apparently Imperial War Museum have it but not available on internet:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205184487

Andrew

[MikeMeech]

18 hours ago, marine pete said:

Debenham was a ace Fighter Pilot WW1 accounting for 6 German planes over the Somme in 1918 

He flew the Sopwith Camel and I believe there is a photograph of him stood with his airplane Serial No C1659.

I wonder if anyone in the great war forum can help me with this.

regards Pete.

Hi

This photograph of Debenham appears in Osprey's 'Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1' by Norman Franks page 60, also on page 99 of 'British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War 1' by Les Rogers for example.  It is probably the IWM image:

There is also an entry for him in 'Above the Trenches' by Shores, Franks & Guest:

I suspect other books also use the image.

Mike

[marine pete]

Thanks Mike for the information 

Best regards Peter

[nils d]

He is mentioned in the book No Parachute by fellow pilot Arthur Gould Lee.

[topgun1918]

The map reference 51b.V.2 relates to a point west of Villers-lès-Cagnicourt, which lies between Arras and Cambrai.

The combat report for 23 March 1918 is a little confusing in that it lists the aeroplanes as Camels C1659 and C1637 with the pilots listed beneath as Capt S P Smith and Lt H G W Debenham.  C1637 doesn't seem to have been assigned to any particular pilot, having been flown by Capt G H Thomson who claimed three victories on 22 March and subsequently by 2nd Lieut V M Yeates and 2nd Lieut C B H Lefroy. 

Similarly, the combat report for 2 April records the Camels as D6491, B2522, C1659, B9153 and D6511 with the pilots listed as Capt S P Smith, Lt A G Vlasto, Lt H G W Debenham, 2/Lt D R MacLaren and 2/Lt R K McConnell; on the basis that the 'aeroplane fits the pilot' it would seem that Debenham flew C1659 on this date.

Graeme

 

[nils d]

So he's probably in another classic book, 'Winged Victory '. by the aforementioned Victor Yeates ,under a different name.

[marine pete]

Thank you to all for the information it was a great help.

Regards Peter.