Captain AB Yuille of 112 SQ shot down first Gotha?

[Stephen Barker]

I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know if this is correct.

I had been told that Yuille was the first man to shoot down a Gotha over Flanders, but weren't Gothas shot down over England before that?

Thank you for any help and advice.

Stephen

[Dolphin]

Stephen

According to the authoritative The Air Defence of Britain 1914-1918 a Gotha G.III was shot down over France in February 1917 and another in April, but I can't locate anything that says just where, or by whom.

On 7 July 1917 2Lts F A D Grace and G Murray (both from Argentina!) of No 50 RFC in Armstrong Whitworth FK 8 B247 brought down a G.IV from Kampfgeschwader 3 that was party of a raid on London. In the same raid, another Gotha from KG 3 was brought down by the RNAS, with credit going to Flt Lt J E Scott in Camel B3774, Sqn Cdr C H Butler in Triplane N5424 and Flt Sub Lt R H Daly in Triplane N5382, though it was thought that all three pilots brought down a Gotha each. In addition, three returning Gothas were written off after crashes during landing, with combat damage a probable contributing factor.

I hope that this helps.

Gareth

[Stephen Barker]

Thanks for the posting Gareth.

Has anyone heard of Yuille?

Stephen

[ianw]

On 25th May 1917, a Gotha was certainly severely damaged by 4 (Naval) Squadron at Bray Dunes near Dunkirk and another crash landed in Belgium ("The Gotha Summer" C.M White). 9 (Naval) Squadron also were involved.

Fl Lt Leslie was awarded the DSC and flew a Pup armed with only one Vickers - but a victory was not confirmed although the bomber went down smoking.

The RNAS also attempted to avenge the 72 people of Folkestone (80% women and children) killed on 25th May and bombed the Gotha aerodrome at St-Denis Westrem on 28th May. RNAS 2 - RFC 0!

To be fair to the RFC, they were attempting to engage the Gothas with BEs and FEs that took 30 mins to reach their inadequate max height so it is not surprising that the RNAS's Pups and Triplanes had more success. Not that the public cut the RFC much slack for these unpalatable facts.

[Stephen Barker]

Thanks Ian

Does anyone know what yuille is well known for?

Stephen

[mickdavis]

Could the original reference to Yuille's combat success be a mistaken reference to the Staaken R.XIV (43/16) that he brought down on 10 August 1918? Yuille had cut his teeth on night flying ops with 112 Sqn and was one of that unit's pilots selected for 151 Sqn, with pilots from other flights being drawn from 78 & 44 Sqns. When posted to 151 Sqn, Yuille, like others similarly posted, took his 'personal' Camel, D6405 named 'Twinkle', with him but managed to stuff it after less than a fortnight in France. He used D6573 for his Staaken success and had already used it to bring down a Freidrichshafen GIV on 27 July. He had a further success on that Camel on 21 August, bringing down another Freidrichshafen, this time in flames.

[James A Pratt III]

The first two Gothas to be shot down were G.IIIs of KG2. The first was on 8 Feb 1917 by the great French Ace Cpt Geogrges Guynemer and Adjudant Chainat. The other was on 23 Apr 1917 by FSL L.S. Breadner of 3 Naval Sqn.

[Stephen Barker]

Thanks to Mick and james.

What did Yuille do then that was of note?

here's what IWM ref says:

British officer served as a pilot with 112 Sqdn, RAF in GB, 1918; served on night operations with 151 Sqdn, RAF on Western Front, 1918. Shot down first German Gotha Bomber, 25/7/1918

Help!!

Stephen