British Army vs RFC

[stan]

New "Wings" Snippet

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A VERY interesting discussion. One wonders how often it happened.

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Odd considering in reality the RFC was part of the British Army?

[Dolphin]

Stan

As you said, a very interesting discussion. However, it somehow doesn't seem quite right for 1915, when aerial spotting for artillery was still in its infancy. Trenches could be, and were, shelled without aid from aeroplanes, as the airborne observers were more useful in correcting fire directed at more specific targets, such as artillery batteries or munitions dumps.

The incident mentioned with justifiable bitterness by the infantry officer, when his unit was ordered to send up flares so that their position could be marked by an observer in an aeroplane doesn't make a great deal of sense. Infantry were supposed to use flares, flashing mirrors and the like to show their positions during a proposed advance, eg 1 July 1916, but it would be unlikely that they'd be asked to do so while just holding the line, as an aerial photograph of the trench would soon show just where it was.

While the infantry certainly envied the creature comforts enjoyed by the RFC at their aerodromes, I think that the other side of the fliers' often short lives - plunging to earth in a doomed aeroplane - would have also been pretty well known. The RFC undoubtedly had something of an air of 'intrepid birdmen' glamour about them, but I'm sure I've read of the Corps being described as a 'suicide club' by those seeking to deter would-be fliers from seeking a transfer.

However, if the two officers simply exchanged polite greetings and then kept to themselves it would have been very dull television!

Thanks for posting the link - it'd be great to see the whole series again!

Gareth

[stan]

The mission was to bomb a gun that fires at dawn. They therefore had to traval in the dark. To aid navigation certain infantry units in the line were told to send up flares every five minutes (because they couldn't be sure when the plane would be near them). These flares marked waypoints for the pilot to find the troublesome gun. That's the story anyway.

[Dolphin]

Stan

Thanks for explaining the plot. It sounds feasible-ish, I suppose. Do you think that aerial bombing from a single aeroplane in 1915 would have been: (a) accurate enough to be fairly sure of a hit on the troublesome gun; and ( pack enough punch to put the gun out of action?

Actually, I may be able to answer my own question, as I recently watched the 1937 remake of The Dawn Patrol, which was also set in 1915, and I remember the incredible devastation caused by the bombs that were dropped by Errol Flynn from his Nieuport 28 towards the end of the film. One of those on a battery would certainly have put it out of commission!

Again, thanks for the link.

Gareth

[stan]

The 'Nieuport 28's' are actually:

Garland Lincoln

Garland Lincoln & Claude Flagg, Van Nuys CA, E Los Angeles CA, Glendale CA.

Garland Lincoln N.28 [75W] (K O Eckland coll)

Garland Lincoln N.28 skeleton [75W] (Clark Scott)

1930 = Rebuilt French Nieuport 28 modified for film work. POP: uncertain, but [R4], [R/NR75W], and [2539] were often seen in films. Lincoln's fleet of DH-4s, Nieuports, and "Germanized" Travel Airs was extensive and varied, but only lightly documented. [NR75W] (c/n LF-2) as example, began life as a real rotary-powered N.28 (c/n 1466), rebuilt in 1920, registered around 1932 as [75W] to Lincoln, who rebuilt it with a 220hp Wright in 1935.

Garland Lincoln LF-1 [N12237] (Marie White)

LF-1 1932 = 1pOB; 100-160hp Gnôme rotary; span: 23'0" length: 19'6"; ff: 8/10/32. POP: 3. [NX/NR/N12237] was the first of three clipped-wing Nieuport 28 replicas for motion picture work built by Flagg for Lincoln, a supplier of aircraft for films (eg: "Dawn Patrol"). The design was so much a duplicate of the original that the fabric once ripped loose on the top wing during a power dive, as was a problem with wartime Nieuports. Repowered c.1950 with 220hp Continental and was active well into the 1970s, used extensively in film and exhibition work by Paul Mantz and Frank Tallman. Two others (c.1934) had 200hp Wright J-4 and I-struts.

[per ardua per mare per terram]

Airbourne observation was also being done by kite balloons; even less of a plot! I suppose they weren't glamourous enough.

[Guest MAGGOT]

Airbourne observation was also being done by kite balloons; even less of a plot! I suppose they weren't glamourous enough.

MY GRANDFATHER 16933 CPL.CHRISTOPHER ENGLISH TEESDALE WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER HE WAS MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES 25/6/1917 ISSUED BY GEN.SIR F.R.WINGATE I THINK IT WAS IN JEDDAH I NEVER MET HIM AS HE DIED SHORTLY AFTER I WAS BORN IN 1943 I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM AS MY AUNT WHO IS STILL ALIVE SAID HE NEVER TALKED ABOUT THE WAR.

[per ardua per mare per terram]

Hi Maggot welcome to the forum

His service record should be at the National Archives at Kew in AIR 79/191. These records are sorted in service number order.

There is a medal index card for

Teasdale, C E

Corps Regiment No Rank

Royal Flying Corps 16933 Corporal

Date 1914-1920

Catalogue reference WO 372/19

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...p;resultcount=1