Mat McLachlan Posted 28 January , 2006 Share Posted 28 January , 2006 Hi all, Just came across the CWGC listing for Corporal FJP Geard of the Royal Flying Corps, buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery. His date of death is 18/08/1914. That seems to me to be a pretty early RFC death, but it's not my area of expertise. Can anyone tell me the dates of the earliest RFC casualties in France? Was Corporal Geard one of them? Cheers, Mat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 28 January , 2006 Share Posted 28 January , 2006 Mat Corporal F J P Geard (47) joined the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers before transferring to the RFC in 1912. He was killed while serving in No 5 Squadron when he was the observer in BE 8 391, piloted by Lt R R Smith-Barry when it crashed at Peronne on 18 August 1914. Lt Smith-Barry broke both legs in the crash, but went on to become the founder of modern flying training. The first active service RFC casualties were 2Lt E W C Perry and AM II H E Parfitt (725), of No 3 Sqn, who were killed when BE 8 625 stalled on take off and crashed at Amiens on 16 August 1914. I hope this helps. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat McLachlan Posted 28 January , 2006 Author Share Posted 28 January , 2006 Thanks Gareth. Most informative. Mat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now