Transfers of Manchester Regiment Officers to RFC/RAF

[Marymuseum]

Hi Philip - I've posted this on the post about Henry Waddington in the Manchester police bit of the forum - another one who went flying! 

E 33 HENRY WADDINGTON
This Officer joined the Manchester City Police on the 27th September 1905, he having completed 2 years and 143 days approved service in the Gloucester Police prior to that date.  On the 13th February 1913 he was promoted to the rank of Acting Sergeant and shortly after the outbreak of War he volunteered as a Drill Instructor for the training of the new Armies.  He subsequently resigned from the Police and enlisted in the Manchester Regiment and during the Somme Offensive in 1916 he was granted a Commission.  He was later transferred to the Royal Air Force, and at the time he was demobilised had attained the rank of Major.

Mary

[PhilipG]

Mary,

Thanks for that info. I will see if I can trace him at this end.  Philip.

[PhilipG]

Mary,

Re Henry Waddington

You write "he was later transferred to the Royal Air Force".

To narrow down the search can you confirm, please, that he joined the Royal Air Force and not the Royal Flying Corps?  The RAF was founded on the 1st April 1918 (April Fools' Day), a date to which attention is sometimes drawn by those serving in the RN and Army!  Philip.

[Marymuseum]

Philip - that's a direct transcript from the Chief Constable's Orders, so I can't clarify any further, sorry!

[PhilipG]

Mary,
Sorry for the delay, but despite my research efforts I have not come up with anything useful.  His rank of Major suggests that he may have commanded a squadron. PhilipG.

[Marymuseum]

Cheers Philip!  If I find anything else out I'll let you know.

[PhilipG]

2nd/Lt F.H.Thorp RFC & 10th Bn. Manchester Regiment.

Lieutenant Thorp was a pilot serving with No.13 Squadron RFC, a squadron equipped with two-seater bi-plane aircraft of a type known as the RE8.  He died of wounds on 31st March 1918, a period of the Great War when the British had "their backs to the wall" and were in retreat on account of the German breakthrough.

The strategy of the RFC (within a few days to become the RAF) was to stifle the German advance as best they could and in doing so casualties were by no means light, for instance, the total losses on the 30th March and 31st March were 19 aircraft and crews.

The RE8 aircraft as previously mentioned is designed for an operational crew of two, so it was interesting to note that to achieve maximum effort against the enemy, two RE8 squadrons were despatching aircraft into action without an Observer or gunner, relying on the pilot alone to bring down any attacker.   What was achieved by this is not clear, but two of the aircraft in action on this basis were shot down on 30th March, the pilots being wounded and in the case of Lt.Thorp, he sadly succumbed to his wounds the following day.   He is buried in Aubigny Comm. Cem. Extn.   PhilipG.

[mack]

2/Lt henry,leslie,cooper morley
1/8th manchesters
wounded in the left calf at Gallipoli may 1915,admitted to cairo hospital
aged 21
resided thornbury house,victoria park,manchester
became a captain in the RFC
died 1st November 1948 at the royal sussex county hospital

mack

[PhilipG]

Mack,

Thank you for that. As you surmised some time ago, there is a greater number who decided to transfer than I had ever anticipated.  Philip.

[PhilipG]

2nd Lt. D.E.Stevens: No. 20 Squadron RFC and 2/5th battalion Manchester Regiment.

No. 20 Squadron was equipped with Bristol F2b aircraft and in March 1918 was operating in the Ypres sector.   The F2b was a two-seater biplane fighter of good repute and it was in a machine of this type that 2nd Lt. Stevens was killed in action on the 13th March 1918.

It is not clear how Stevens met his death, for intriguingly, he appears to have been flying solo, there being no Observer/gunner in the rear cockpit.  In cases such as this, I have sometimes wondered how the pilot could have been killed.   Was it an "air test" and he was surprised in flight by enemy action, or could it have been an "area familiarisation patrol" with the same result?  We may never know.   I note that the CWGC have his rank recorded as Lieutenant although the squadron gave him the rank of 2nd Lt. in their records.   

By coincidence, Wilfred Owen was commissioned in the 5th Manchesters, too and was killed in action in November 1918 whilst attached to the 2nd battalion holding the rank of 2nd Lt.   After his death it was discovered that Owen should have been promoted to Lieutenant some 18 months prior to his death, the CWGC in due course being advised accordingly.   I wonder if this could be the case regarding Stevens' rank?

This young airman is buried in Longuenesse (St.Omer) Cemetery.   PhilipG.

[PhilipG]

Captain James M.Child M.C.  Manchester Regiment and RAF - "Fighter Ace."

At the outbreak of the Great War, this officer was living in Canada and upon returning home joined the army, in due course being commissioned in the Manchester Regiment.   I do not know to which battalion he was assigned.

To read his record of war service is to be impressed, for after pilot training he was posted to France as a fighter pilot joining No.4 Squadron RFC and in July 1916 he was transferred to No.19 Squadron also a fighter squadron.   In May 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Captain receiving a Mention in Despatches.  After a spell on non-operational duties he was sent to join No. 84 Squadron as a Flight Commander with the task of assisting in the difficult duty, sometimes costly in lives, of introducing inexperienced pilots to combat flying.  Whilst with this squadron Captain Child was awarded the Military Cross.   By the end of November 1917 he had become a "Fighter Ace", having "downed" eight enemy aircraft, three with No. 19 Squadron piloting a Spad type of aircraft and a further five when flying a SE5A with No. 84 Squadron.   His area of operations had at various times involved combat not only in the Ypres Salient, but also in the region of Cambrai.   Obviously a skilled fighter pilot.

In February 1918 he was posted to England as a flying instructor, eventually being sent to Canada to perform similar training duties in that country.  On the 23rd August it would seem that one of his unit's aircraft was in difficulties for it is reported that Child met his death trying to rescue an airman from an aircraft which had crashed.

He is commemorated on the headstone of the family grave at Chingford Mount Cemetery, the inscription on the memorial I am pleased to see, also makes reference to his service in the Manchester Regiment as well as to that of the RAF.   PhilipG.

[mack]

captain child was a bank clerk,he was in Canada working as a mineral prospector when the war began,he was a member of the Canadian militia,he was unable to return to England with the Canadian expeditionary force,so he paid his own passage on the ADRIATIC,arriving in England on 18th February 1915.and commissioned as a 2/Lt in the 13th DLI
he passed his royal aero club certificate on 31-1-16 on a Maurice farman at the military school catterick bridge
5 victories were on a SE5A,serial number B562
awarded chevalier of the order of leopold II 28-9-17,belgium Croix de guerre 15-3-18 and MC gazetted 5-7-18
he died rescuing fellow officers from a plane crash at drakemyre Scotland,his body was returned to his hometown and buried at Chingford in the family grave
resided at 83 king st,leytonstone
there a photo of him in the royal aero club archives

mack

[PhilipG]

Mack,

Thanks for that.   I did not realise he was killed in Scotland.  It must have been a bad crash, perhaps with exploding ammo. and/or petrol in the vicinity.

What unusual tasks bank clerks did in those days!!!

I have drawn a blank regarding the battalion in which he served. I fear we shall never know. Thanks again. Philip.

[mack]

hello Philip.
in his photo,hes badged up to the DLI,perhaps he wasn't allocated to a Manchester battalion in the short time he was an infantry officer.

mack

[timberman]

Hello Phillip

 As Mack says in the royal aero club archives
he's badged as DLI

But in soldiers that died he's list

1st and 2nd and RA?

Name:   James Martin Child
Death Date:   23 Aug 1918
Rank:   Captain
Regiment:   Manchester Regiment
Battalion:   1/2 Battalion
Decoration:   MC
Type of Casualty:   Killed
Comments:   And R A

CWGC List

CHILD, JAMES MARTIN
Rank:
Captain
Date of Death:
23/08/1918
Age:
25
Regiment/Service:
Royal Air Force
and Manchester Regiment
Awards:
M C
Grave Reference
C.R. 7284.
Cemetery
CHINGFORD MOUNT CEMETERY
Additional Information:
Chevalier of the Order of Leopold II. Croix de Guerre (Belgium).
Son of Tylney Harris Child and Constance Octavio Child, of 83,
King's Rd., Leytonstone. His brother Jack Escott Child also fell.

The rest I've got I'll post in the mods section as it would infringe
copyright.

Timberman