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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0052.PDF
JANUARY 10, 1918. TWO BRITISH "CRACK" PILOTS. IN view of the reticence of the authorities with regard to thedoings of British airmen, details given in the two following stories from the Daily Mail are very interesting:— " Captain Philip Fletcher Fullard, D.S.O., M.C., aged 20,one of the British air ' stars ' went fresh from school into an officers' training corps. He has flown in France for aboutsix months, and during that time has brought down 42 enemy machines and three balloons. " In a single day he brought down four German aeroplanes—his record day's ' bag.' On another occasion he and another airman brought down seven enemy machines before breakfast,Fullard accounting for three of them. Up to the middle of October the squadron to which he belongs had brought down200 enemy machines, and their number now stands at about 250. " The outstanding feature of Captain Fullard's record isthe few casualties his ' flight ' has suffered. For three months he worked with the same flight of six pilots without a casualtyamong them, and in that time they brought down more enemy machines than any other flight in France. " He load a narrow escape when fighting a German two-seater, his goggles being shot away from his eyes. The Verey lights in his machine caught fire and set the woodworkof the aeroplane alight, but he managed to get his burning machine back to the British lines. Captain Fullard respectsthe fighting capacity of the Boche airmen, and considers they are good in a tight corner. After emerging scatheless frommany a tight corner in air fights he broke his leg six weeks ago while playing football at an aerodrome. " Captain Fullard is the son of the late Mr. ThomasFletcher Fullard, of Hatfield, and Mrs. Fullard, who now lives at Rugby. He was educated at Norwich Grammar School,and in 1905 joined the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps. Passing high in his examination, he was offered a commissionin the Royal Irish Fusiliers, but was selected as suitable for flying work, and joined the R.F.C. He went to Upavon, andwas given a post as instructor there. In April, 1917, he was sent to the front. He has gained the D.S.O. and the MilitaryCross, with a bar." " Captain James Thomas Byford McCudden, M.C., hasbrought down 37 machines, and is still flying in France, being the leader of the squadron that the Mail's correspondent,Mr. Harold Ashton, spoke of on New Year's Day as having accounted for 99 Huns. Captain McCudden went out asan air-mechanic with the original British Expeditionary Force. In the stress of the German rush through Belgium,Air-Mechanic McCudden, having had some experience in the air, was pressed into service at Mons as an observer, and he wasa member of a small reconnaissance party that gave information of the Hun effort which led to the historic fighting retreat. " McCudden went all through that stage of the war. Pro-moted officially to be an observer, he won renown for his handling of the guns in several stiff fights, and in the firstyear of the war as a non-commissioned officer he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Military Medal. His pilot—a major, since killed—said on more than one occasion : ' But for McCudden we should never have got our machineback safely. He fought with real genius.' " Since he became a pilot in charge of a single-seater scout,in which he controls the gun as well as the aeroplane, McCudden has had well over 100 fights and some wonderful escapeswithout sustaining a scratch. He had three duels with Immelmann, the crack German airman, and on each occasionthe fight was broken off before either could claim a decisive advantage. He has paid some generous tributes to Immel-mann. " Captain McCudden's father, Mr. W. H. McCudden, longa warrant officer in the Royal Engineers, was born at Carlow, Ireland—a typical Irishman, whose father and grandfatherhad been soldiers before him. The young airman's mother, whose maiden name of Byford he bears, comes of Scottishfighting stock. Both her father and grandfather were in the Royal Marines. " McCudden of the Air Service will be 23 next March. Hewas born in barracks at Chatham, educated at the garrison school there, and has lived most of his life in barracks. Likehis father and mother he is not tall-—his height is 5 ft. 7 ins.— but his slim figure is athletic and his boyishly pinky-white com-plexion gives a touch of delicacy to a countenance that is full of character. His elder brother, Flight-Sergeant W. T. J.McCudden, was killed while flying at Gosport in May, 1915. He has two other brothers, one of whom, 2nd LieutenantJ. Anthony McCudden, R.F.C., has already brought down several German machines in France. The youngest memberof the family, Maurice Vincent McCudden, aged 16, is already in the R.F.C., and pining to be a pilot. " His father is now chief clerk in a detachment of theA.S.C., and his mother lives at Kingston-on-Thames. ' He tells us hardly anything in his letters about what he hasdone,' said his mother to a Daily Mail representative on Saturday. ' Sometimes he just puts in a line, " Broughtdown two more Huns to-day, mum," but nothing more. A few weeks ago he wrote, " Hear I've been recommended forthe D.S.O.," but even then he did not tell us what it was for." THE IMPERIAL WAR EXHIBITION. IT would be difficult to imagine anything more fascinating orbetter calculated to open one's eyes to the enormous extent and variety of the machinery required for conducting a greatwar than the Imperial War Exhibition which was opened at Burlington House (Royal Academy), Piccadilly, by Field-Marshal H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught, KG., on Monday last (January 7th). There is scarcely a phase of warfare,whether on land, at sea, under the sea, or in the air, which is not represented by the weapons, instruments, machinery,or craft full size or model, appertaining to it. In addition to what might be termed exhibits in the solid, the walls of thevarious galleries are covered with excellent pictures repre- senting incidents, humorous and sad, of the war on allfronts. Of particular interest to " FLIGHT " readers is, of course,the section dealing with aerial warfare. This is very well represented, two full-size machines—a captured Fokker mono-plane and a Sopwith triplane—being shown. In addition there are exhibited a number of aero engines—British as wellas German—with diagrams showing how an interval com- bustion engine works. Of aircraft accessories there is awealth of machine guns, bombs, instruments, cameras used for aerial photography, &c, while suspended under the domeof the Central Hall is a Calthrop's " Guardian Angel " para- chute. The walls of this room are decorated with propellers (some showing the earlier type with deflector plates usedbefore the synchronised machine gun came into general use), Zeppelin and Gotha relics, machine guns, &c. On the wallsof the room of which the Sopwith triplane forms the central exhibit are hung some very interesting and instructive picturesshowing some of the many phases of aerial warfare, over land as well as over the sea. Against one of the walls and slung on thin steel wires invery realistic attitudes are a number of scale models of well- known machines such as Sopwith scouts, Schneider typeSopwiths, Bristol scouts, Wight seaplanes, Short seaplanes and Avro long-distance bombers. Two rooms are devoted to articles made chiefly by women,and include aeroplane parts in metal and wood, and a large series of aero engine parts, chiefly of the Clerget—of which acomplete engine is shown—but also of numerous other well- known aero engines. It would indeed be futile to attempt to give a completecatalogue of all the interesting exhibits. To appreciate them one must see them, and we would earnestly advise all of ourreaders who can possibly manage to do so, to pay a visit to the exhibition. The price of admission is is.—so low as tobe within the means of everybody, and the whole of the proceeds are to be devoted to the British Red Cross Societyand Order of St. John. Further Opportunities for Women Drivers. MORE women motor transport drivers are wanted in the Royal Flying Corps. Applications should be made to The Commandant, Women's Legion, Motor Transport Section, 15A, Pall Mall East, S.W.i. British Aeroplane in Holland. FROM Amsterdam it is reported that a British biplane landed^on January 3rd, at Biervliet, near the Dutch frontier wire fence in Zeeland, and the officer and two men have been interned. The officer, whose hands and legs were so frozen that he was unable to control the machine, has been admitted to hospital. German Aerodrome Damaged. IT is stated by the Telegraaf that the big new German aviation camp near Oostacker, on the Ghent-Lokeren- Antwerp line, has been greatly damaged in aerial attacks.
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