timhog Posted 25 February , 2007 Share Posted 25 February , 2007 Hi one and all. A well known name from Shoreham this time. Capt Harold H Bbalfour RFC. We have some stuff on him ; RFC Communiques 1917/18, some of his books etc. But anything you may have will help. Thanks. Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlight Posted 26 February , 2007 Share Posted 26 February , 2007 Hi Tim, Henshaw’s TSTB states on 16/02/18 that Sopwith Camel 43 Sqn - B5620 piloted by Captain HH Balfour shot down an Albatros DV ( ‘out of control’ and ‘destroyed’) at Courrieres at 11:15am. This is the first of seven claims by him flying this aircraft. From the ‘Aerodrome’ site, Major Harold Harrington Balfour is listed as having 9 victories, all claimed whilst flying with Squadron 43. He also flew with Squadrons 40 and 60 and gained the MC in 1917 and bar in 1918 – for more info refer to: http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/balfour.php Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOB ROBBINS Posted 26 February , 2007 Share Posted 26 February , 2007 Hi one and all. A well known name from Shoreham this time. Capt Harold H Bbalfour RFC. We have some stuff on him ; RFC Communiques 1917/18, some of his books etc. But anything you may have will help. Thanks. Tim. Hello, Tim... Lord Harold Harrington Balfour was born in Camberley, Surrey on 1st November, 1897, the son of a colonel and great-grandson of Field-Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala. He was educated at Chilverton Elms, Dover, and the Royal Naval College at Osborne. He joined the King’s Royal Rifle Company in 1914 and transferred three months later to the Royal Flying Corps. He served in several squadrons, most notably Nos. 40, 43, and 60. During the war he achieved 11 victories and was slightly wounded on 24th April 1917. Balfour received the Military Cross on 26th May 1917, with a bar added on 22nd April 1918 for “a reconnaissance in which he bombed two guns and silenced them, bombed large bodies of troops in a market square, and fired into the hangars and huts in a hostile aerodrome.” After the war, he achieved a distinguished career, serving as a Member of Parliament, before becoming Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Air in 1938, number two to Sir Kingsley Wood, the Air Minister. He was retained by Churchill in 1940 in a secondary rôle, and was at the centre of events when France fell, and during the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he was sworn to the Privy Council. He was a member of the mission to Moscow headed by Lord Beaverbrook, and toasted Stalin. In 1944 Churchill appointed Balfour as Resident Minister in West Africa. Created Baron Balfour of Inchyre, he returned in 1945 to serve in the House of Lords. After the war he maintained his interest in journalism and flying, as President of the British Society of World War I Aero Historians. Lord Balfour died on 22nd September 1988. Another luminary with long connections to Shoreham was Captain L A Wingfield, who was born in Richmond, Surrey on 17th April 1898. His father opened Shoreham Aerodrome, and inculcated in young Lawrie a passion for aviation. Wingfield was commissioned in 1915, aged 17, after attending Aldenham School and serving in the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps and the Royal Fusiliers. Training on Maurice Farman Longhorns, he was posted to No. 12 Squadron in France, where he flew BE2c’s on general reconnaissance duties. On 1st July 1916, he was shot down after blowing up ammunition wagons at St. Quentin station, and became a prisoner of war. After incarceration in various camps, he escaped in October 1917 and reached Holland safely after walking over 90 miles in ten days. Later he was awarded the MC and DFC. He noted, “I was decorated once for being shot down and once for running away!” After the war he served as solicitor to the Royal Aeronautical Society starting in 1920. He joined the Institute of Aeronautical Engineers and founded the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. He retired from GAPAN in 1955 but continued as its legal advisor. Wingfield wrote a book, The Law in Relation to Aircraft. He died on 23rd October 1989, aged 81. A book including interviews with both the above can be found by clicking here Best wishes with your research, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domwalsh Posted 26 February , 2007 Share Posted 26 February , 2007 This your man? (Both from Times) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhog Posted 27 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2007 Steve. Thanks for the link a lot to go through on the site, very good. Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhog Posted 27 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2007 Bob. Thank you a good lot of stuff to go through and add to our records, all the best. Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timhog Posted 27 February , 2007 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2007 Dom. Yes this is our man, I have the fine story from a book but not from the paper, so good stuff and more for our records. Thanks. Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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