A very very very long shot

[watchman]

Hi

Well they say its a small world so here goes:-

War diary of 2/6th South Staffordshirsa Regiment April 4th 1917

"We supplied a guard over one of our own areoplanes which alighted E.of Vraignes

about 4pm 3/4/17"

The reg at this time were working in trenches around Hancourt

Does anybody have any snippets re this incident?

regards

Andrew

[Dolphin]

Andrew

I've had a look at some of the books that cover the subject, and after discounting the British losses that couldn't have been your machine, as they came down too far north or much too early or late in the day, I think that the most likely candidate is A5486, an FE 2b of No 22 Sqn, flown by 2Lt G M Hopkins and AMI H Friend, which suffered fuel tank damage during an attack by an enemy aircraft while east of the Lines. It was the last aeroplane in a formation, and was hit at long range. The machine came down 'near Moislains' - which is, admittedly, a fair across-ground distance from Hancourt - and the crew spent the night in a dug out with the infantry. After apparently surviving enemy shelling, A5486 was dismantled and removed the next day.

However, on 3 April, the FE patrol left at 1620, which makes it a bit late to exactly coincide with your diary entry, unless the 'about 4pm' could mean quite a while after the hour, or if the time was really about 5pm.

It's not a neat answer, but I hope that this helps, and that someone else has more information.

Gareth

[watchman]

Dolphin.

Another tick in the box for the research, thanks to your help.

Andrew