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.