christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Remembering Today: AM.III James FOY, 106242 13 KBS, Royal Flying Corps Age 47, who died on 29.12.17. Wimereux Communal Cemetery, France Name: FOY, JAMES Initials: J Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Airman 3rd Class Regiment: Royal Flying Corps Unit Text: 13th Kite Ballon Sect. Age: 47 Date of Death: 29/12/1917 Service No: 106242 Additional information: Brother of Mrs. L. Walmsley, of 33, Jemmett St., Preston. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. B. 17. Cemetery: WIMEREUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY Wimereux is a small town situated about 5 kilometres north of Boulogne. From Boulogne take the A16 to Calais and come off at Junction 4. Take the road to Wimereux north, D242, for approximately 2 kilometres, following the road through the roundabout. Take the first turn on the left immediately after the roundabout and the Cemetery lies approximately 200 metres down this road on the left hand side. The Commonwealth War Graves are situated to the rear of the Communal Cemetery. Historical Information: Wimereux was the headquarters of the Queen Mary's Army Auxilliary Corps during the First World War and in 1919 it became the General Headquarters of the British Army. From October 1914 onwards, Boulogne and Wimereux formed an important hospital centre and until June 1918, the medical units at Wimereux used the communal cemetery for burials, the south-eastern half having been set aside for Commonwealth graves, although a few burial were also made among the civilian graves. By June 1918, this half of the cemetery was filled, and subsequent burials from the hospitals at Wimereux were made in the new military cemetery at Terlincthun. During the Second World War, British Rear Headquarters moved from Boulogne to Wimereux for a few days in May 1940, prior to the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. Thereafter, Wimereux was in German hands and the German Naval Headquarters were situated on the northern side of the town. After D-Day, as Allied forces moved northwards, the town was shelled from Cap Griz-Nez, and was re-taken by the Canadian 1st Army on 22 September 1944. Wimereux Communal Cemetery contains 2,847, Commonwealth burials of the First World War, two of them unidentified. Buried among them is Lt.-Col. John McCrae, author of the poem "In Flanders Fields." There are also five French and a plot of 170 German war graves. The cemetery also contains 14 Second World War burials, six of them unidentified. The Commonwealth section was designed by Charles Holden. Because of the sandy nature of the soil, the headstones lie flat upon the graves. No. of Identified Casualties: 3022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Some interesting questions here; First, his rank AM 111 - Airman 3rd class. What distinguished the classes? Are these the AeFC? that were previously mentioned elsewhere? secondly his age- 47 in 1917 Quite elderly! thirdly the unit; 13 KBS Kite Ballon section. Is this a misspelling of Balloon, or something completely different? What did a Kite ballon section do? I'll leave all these to the experts. fourthly, He died, rather than KIA Of what? No living parents apparently, not surprising at his age and lastly, the unusual gravestones at Wimereux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Free BMD possible births Surname First name(s) District Vol Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Dec 1870 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foy James Liverpool 8b 99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Jun 1871 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foy James Prescott 8b 620 Foy James Manchester 8d 334 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Sep 1871 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foy James Birmingham 6d 120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Births Dec 1871 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foy James Francis L Portsea I. 2b 386 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2003 The Diary and photos of a Kite Balloonist here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Checking for his sister's marriage; Free BMD Marriages Dec 1899 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foy Ann Blackburn 8e 801 Foy James Blackburn 8e 801 Interesting that a James Foy also got married same place, same year Clicking on the reference no, you get the partner(s) Surname First name(s) District Vol Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marriages Dec 1899 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barker Mary Alice Blackburn 8e 801 Foy Ann Blackburn 8e 801 Foy James Blackburn 8e 801 Walmsley William Blackburn 8e 801 It would appear that James also married, to Mary Alice Barker, possibly in double wedding with his sister! What happened to Mary. and were there children? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Christine "Airmen Died" doesn't indicate the cause of AM Foy's death; presumably it was from an illness. A Kite Balloon Section, comprising five or six officers and about ninety men, was the basic RFC unit involved in the use of tethered balloons primarily used for artillery observation. One or two observers were carried in a wicker basket suspended beneath the balloon and they transmitted their observations to the ground by way of a telephone. Observers were officers until 1918, when an NCO Observer was added to the Companys. A Balloon Wing (part of an RFC Brigade) was attached to each British Army on the Western Front, with each Wing comprising fourteen or fifteen Sections. I hope this helps. Dolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 None of the five births are immediately obvious for someone getting married at Blackburn. The Liverpool and Manchester ones will be geographically closest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 29 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Foy Genealogy page Foy Roots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 While I know nothing of the circumstances of 3AM James Foy, I can add a little to the information about a kite balloon and its section. The 1917 kite balloons were of the French Caquot design, named after their designer, Capitaine Albert Caquot with three stabilisers, set at 120° to each other, which allowed them to be used in winds of up to 62mph. The barrage balloons of the Second World War were very similar in design. The Type M (32,843cu.ft), the most common type, was capable of attaining an altitude of 13,124ft. Each Caquot balloon required eight men to handle the picketing ropes, with a further twenty-three looking after the ground rigging, fifteen on the bow guys, four at the mid-point and three on the stern guys. In addition there were men in charge of gas pressure, valves, fin sleeves, car suspenders, ballast, winch and parachutes, all under the charge of a flight sergeant. The parachutes were usually of the Spencer static-line pattern and were stored in conical canvas bags known as 'acorns' suspended outside the rim of the basket. Each section was manned in the following manner for a Caquot balloon, making a total of ninety-six personnel: 1 flight sergeant 2 sergeants 45-man balloon handling party 3 corporals attached to the above 2 balloon riggers with a corporal 1 clerk 2 cooks 14 motor drivers 3 motor-cyclists 6 telephonists with a corporal 2 storemen with a wireless operator 4 winchmen 4 batmen 5 officers (From 1918 an NCO Observer was added.) While the age of our man was considerable, it was by no means unusual. I know of a few other ground crew of this age. 3AM is the most junior rank in the RFC. Our man would have earned only 1 shilling a day, or 1s 6d (if he was a clerk). Apart from illness, or disease, accidents also happened frequently. The German artillery would shell the balloon and its lorry-mounted winch, often killing ground crew. German aeroplanes also straffed the balloons There were even instances where not all the ground crew released the balloon when told, and were carried up into the sky – and fell to their death when they could hold on no longer. See the death of AM Henry Edward James (aged 46) and William John Peggs (aged 28) on the 21.9.17 as a classic example of such an incident. The photo has been lifted from the RFC/RNAS Handbook 1914-18, by Peter Cooksley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 I can add a little to the information about a kite balloon and its section. Very interesting. Do you know how far an observer could view with the kite at maximum altitude and on a clear day? Thanks Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 29 December , 2003 Share Posted 29 December , 2003 Sorry, I don't have that info. The normal operating height was, on average, just 1000 feet. This was high enough for the observer to see the enemy lines, around 2-5 miles away, and at least another two miles further - for the purposes of artillery spotting. Their maps included one "showing the main sector and two adjacent ones...." Look at the photo of this basket: The observer on the left is wearing a headset and holding a microphone. The observer is holding binoculars. A parachute - 'acorn' - is at the front and the mapboard is to the right of the basket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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