The personal life of Jack Hogan is a challenge to piece together, and much of the information is pulled from his service record. This confirms that he was born in 1890 in Cork, Ireland, and gives his next of kin as his mother, Annie Hogan, who was living in Southsea, Hampshire. He seems to have been born John Hogan, Jack being a common nickname, but there are too many census records with potential matches to narrow down a definite connection.

A Roman Catholic, Jack was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall. He had dark hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having two small moles on his left cheek. He enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class on 1st October 1915, leaving his job as a motor and cycle fitter to do so.

Jack seemed to have been proficient at what he was doing, and was promoted to Air Mechanic 1st Class less than a year after enlisting. On 5th February 1918 he rose again, taking the role of Acting Sergeant. When the Royal Air Force was formed in April that year, his rank was made permanent.

Sergeant Hogan was attached to the 29th Training Depot Station near East Boldre, Hampshire. On 4th August 1918, he was piloting an Avro 504, when it collided with another aircraft. There is little recorded about the incident, and his RAF Casualty Card does not give details of the other vehicle or its pilot. Jack’s biplane fell to the ground and he was killed. He was 28 years of age.

The body of Jack Hogan was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, not far from the base that had become his home.

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