Lt. Hallgrimur Jonsson & Lt. Arthur William MacNamara

[Jonhallmar]

Looking for any information regarding lt. Hallgrímur Jónsson & lt. Arthur William MacNamara. Both were killed on the 3rd of September 1918 while flying B7888 for 12 sqdn. Any info/pictures would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Best regards,

Jón

[topgun1918]

Macnamara, the pilot, is shown as McNamara on his Officer’s Record and had been born on 27 April 1899, Kilmallock, County Limerick, Ireland.  He joined the RFC on 4 May 1917 and appointed a Probationary Temporary 2nd-Lieutenant on 19 July 1917.  He was appointed a Flying Officer on 12 October 1917, embarked to the Expeditionary Force on 26 January 1918 and was assigned to No 12 Squadron on 29 January 1918.  He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Gazetted on 2 November 1918, the citation reading:

“Lieut. Arthur William MacNamara.

His photographic reconnaissance during the last few months has been exceptionally good.  Frequently, when on this duty, he has been attacked by hostile planes, but has invariably completed his work before returning.  On one occasion, when 10,000 yards over the line, he was attacked by superior numbers.  By skilful manoeuvring he drove them off and continued his photographic work, exposing 126 plates, despite the fact that his machine was badly shot about.”

Jonsson, the observer, was born in Myri, Iceland on 19 March 1885 and was a high school teacher at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada when he attested on 1 February 1916.  He served in the 108th Battalion, British Columbia Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force with who m he won the Military Cross.  He was seconded for duty with the RAF on 14 March 1918 and appointed an Observer with the rank of Temporary 2nd-Lieutenant on 20 April.  After periods at the School of Military Aviation, Armament School and No 1 Aeroplane Supply Depot, he was assigned to No 12 Squadron on 11 August.  Initially listed as missing on 3 September, he was subsequently recorded as killed on that date.

The casualty report states that Lieut Arthur William Macnamara (Kia) & Lieut Hallgrimur Jonsson MC (Kia) took off 07:20/08:20 in R.E.8 B7888 then went missing on counter-attack patrol; they were potentially the victims of Ltn d R Hermann Frommherz, Jasta 27, 18th victory [Beugnâtre, no time]; Frommherz also claimed another victory over Beugny as his 19th victory.

Graeme

[Tawhiri]

Links to the online files available for both men, all freely available, although you will need to register for an account at the National Archives before being able to download the AIR 76 records for no charge.

Arthur William MacNamara

AIR 76 record at the National Archives - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8202580

RAF casualty form - https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/15858

Casualty card - incident - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/macnamara-a.w

Casualty card - person - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000251222-macnamara-a.w.-arthur-william

Next of kin card - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000251223-macnamara-a.w

RAF roll of honour - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/macnamara-a.w.-arthur-william

Hallgrímur Jónsson

Canadian Expeditionary Force record - https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=340895

AIR 76 record at the National Archives - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8279259

RAF casualty form - https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/13006

Casualty card - incident - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/jonsson-h

Casualty card - person - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000248915-jonsson-h.-hallgrimur and https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000248916-jonsson-h.-hallgrimur

Next of kin card - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/7000248917-jonsson-h

RAF roll of honour - https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/jonsson-h.-hallgrimur

[johntanner]

Photos of Jonson here https://www.dropbox.com/s/omapzjmiyz9phip/Enfield Roll of Honourv14.pdf?dl=0

[josquin]

Civil birth records for Ireland confirm that Arthur William MacNamara was born 1n 1899, in County Limerick, so the service record (McNamara) is incorrect..

Josquin

[Tawhiri]

1 hour ago, josquin said:

Civil birth records for Ireland confirm that Arthur William MacNamara was born 1n 1899, in County Limerick, so the service record (McNamara) is incorrect..

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Although his name is spelled as McNamara in his AIR76 record, it clearly states that his date of birth is 27 April 1899, and the address given for his next of kin, who is his brother, is Killmallock, County Limerick. It also states he was killed on 3 September 1918. There is no AIR76 record for an Arthur William MacNamara, even though every other official record does seem to have spelled his name correctly as MacNamara

[josquin]

I was merely noting that the birth record confirms that the correct surname spelling was MacNamara rather than McNamara, records notwithstanding.

[Airshipped]

Huge oversimplification but, in general, Irish surnames use 'Mc' and Scottish ones use 'Mac'. There's no practical difference, for it had historically denoted 'son of'. (The Icelandic surnames are far more interesting in that regard, e.g. taking the father's forename and adding the 'son' suffix, and would be closer to the original usage of Mac).

Most official records contain any random combination of 'Mc' 'M*c', 'Mac' etc.

In this particular case the family would appear to have used 'Mac', e.g. see birth registration:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1899/02013/1773189.pdf

See also Irish Census 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Limerick/Kilmallock/Kilmallock_Town/1493353/

His service records are a mess, e.g. prior to being commissioned he was 'MacNamara' under the service number 79486, but at some stage in certain returns it became 'McNamara'.