Wesley Alexander Archibald was born in Flatlands, New Brunswick, Canada, on 19th October 1894. The oldest of ten children, his parents were Scottish-born couple James and Jane Archibald. It is unclear what employment James was in, but when he completed his schooling, Wesley found work as a telegraph operator.
When not working, Wesley was an active member of the Irish Fusiliers of Canada, and, by the time was broke out, he had been with the 11th Regiment for a year.
Wesley enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 29th November 1915. His service records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, with black hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a large scar on the outer side of his right thigh.
Private Archibald’s initial training was completed on home soil. His unit – the 121st Battalion – left Halifax on 14th August 1916, and arrived in Liverpool, Lancashire, ten days later. His dedication to the role was clear: his unit moved to Bramshott, Surrey, and he had been promoted to Corporal by the time he arrived there, and Sergeant just two months later.
In January 1917, Wesley was assigned to the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and sent to the Front Line. Over the next few months, his unit saw some fierce fighting at Arras, Vimy and Hill 70. On 9th July Sergeant Archibald was awarded the Military Medal for his actions.
By the end of 1917, Wesley was seeking more adventure, and, on 10th December, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Attached to the 29th Training Depot Station, he was based near Beaulieu in Hampshire when the Royal Air Force was created. Over the next year he learnt his new trade and, on 7th November 1918, he was appointed Second Lieutenant.
The following day, Wesley was preparing for a flight in his Sopwith Dolphin. The aircraft took off, but the engine stalled, and the plane crashed. Second Lieutenant Archibald was killed instantly. He was 24 years of age.
The body of William Alexander Archibald was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, not far for the airfield he had called home.
Percy Townley Rawlings was born on 22nd September 1887 in Clapham, Surrey. Details of his early life are sketchy, and most of the information comes from second hand accounts. His baptism record gives his parents as Edward and Lizzie Rawlings. Edward was listed as being a gentleman, but there is no record of the family on the 1891, or 1901 census returns.
He was educated at Westminster School and Cambridge University, where he obtained honours in the Mechanical Sciences Tripos.
In 1910 he went to Woolwich Arsenal as [an] advanced workshop student, and in the following year he obtained a Commission in the Royal Engineers…
In 1912 he entered the Public Works Department of the Sudan Government, and during 1913-14 acted as engineer to the Egyptian Irrigation Service on the construction of the Blue Nile Dam.
On the outbreak of the War he was sent to France [as a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers], in the 2nd Field Co., being transferred in the following year to the [Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve], for engineering duties with the [Royal Naval Air Service].
In 1917 he flew to Constantinople in a Handley-Page machine, and bombed the Goeben, for which he received the DSC.
[1921 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]
By the end of the conflict, Percy had been promoted to Captain. After the Armistice he remained involved in the Royal Air Force, and was involved in testing the rapidly changing technology of flight.
A Tarrant triplane, constructed at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, was wrecked on a trial flight on Monday. The machine, which had six engines, each developing 500 horse power, after running along the ground toppled forward and seemed to bury itself in the earth. One of the pilots… Captain Rawlings, has died, and the other, Capt. Dunn, is in a very grave condition.
[Waterford Standard: Wednesday 28th May 1919]
Captain Percy Rawlings’ Tarrant triplane after the crash
Captain Dunn also died in the crash, which happened on 26th May 1919. Percy was 31 years of age when he died.
A close friend, Henry Edmunds, wrote to the Flight Magazine to express his sympathy at the loss:
As a boy, Rawlings was always interested in scientific matters, particularly photography and motors..
He was manly, open, and frank, fearless and honest, of an enquiring mind, and fond of experimenting. I remember his pre-heating paraffin vapour electrically, as a fuel for explosive engines…
It was at my house at Brighton that Rawlings met Mr. W. G. Tarrant, who was spending the week-end with me. Rawlings had just returned from the famous flight in the Handley Page to Constantinople, where he bombed the ‘Goeben.’ I remember his describing vividly his impressions of that memorable journey. If I recollect correctly, he motored down to Folkestone somewhat rapidly. He told me he believed the police were on the look-out for him for exceeding the speed-limit; but he went from Folkestone by air, proceeding to Naples. It was delightful to hear him recount that remarkable voyage. Their fears lest they should not be able to cross some of the high mountain ranges with the heavy load they were carrying, and where, had anything happened, they would have been out of the reach of all human aid. How he availed himself of a special camera for photographing portions of his trip, the results of which he feared it might be unwise to disclose at that time, so he brought the negatives back with him, and I believe they wore kept personally until after the War.
He and Mr. Tarrant were mutually attracted to each other, and discussed with much seriousness the construction of a new type of bombing-plane, which eventuated in the great Tarrant machine. Rawlings joined Tarrant shortly afterwards, and devoted all his energies to carrying on the work of design and construction. On several occasions he came down to see me, and related his experiences. He was full of confidence as to the future of his work; and invited me to take my first flight with him.
Townley Rawlings was a gallant gentleman. Those whom the gods love are taken early.
[Flight Magazine: 29th May 1919]
The speeding incident is an interesting anecdote, another similar incident recorded in a separate newspaper report:
Chauffeur Summoned for Fast Driving
Capt. Rawlings, who was killed in the Tarrant triplane accident, should have appeared as a witness yesterday in the Kingston court.
His chauffeur, Arthur B Cogger, of West Byfleet, summoned for exceeding the limit, was driving Captain Rawlings to Farnborough on Saturday, before the accident.
He said the captain told him he wanted to get along as quickly as possible as he was going to test an aeroplane. He had intended to come to court.
The summons was dismissed.
[Dublin Daily Express: Saturday 31st May 1919]
Percy Townley Rawlings was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, possibly close to where he or his family had been living.
Flt-Cadet Ernest Osborn Tracey, RAF, who died on Friday, the result of injuries sustained through a collision in the air when undergoing his final training, was the only son of Rev. HF and Mrs Tracey, of Dartmouth. He was born in Oct. 1899, at St Saviour’s Vicarage, of which church his father was vicar for 23 years, retiring from the living in 1913 in order to take up clerical duties in New Zealand. Mr Tracey was educated at Blundell’s, where he held a house master’s scholarship. When he left in the middle of last year he was the winner of the Coles’ prize for science; was one of the shooting VIII, of which he had his cap and colours; a member of the Upper Sixth, the OTC, and he had also won the first prize for drawing. On leaving Blundell’s he obtained a cadetship at Woolwich, and was transferred to the RAF.
[Western Morning News: Tuesday 4th June 1918]
Ernest Osborn Tracey was born in Dartmouth, Devon, on 25th October 1899, and was baptised in his father’s church six weeks later. The younger of two children to Reverend Henry and Alice Tracey, he gave up his schooling to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps on 12th November 1917.
When the Royal Air Force was formed the following April, Flight Cadet Tracey automatically transferred across. Training to be a reconnaissance pilot, Ernest would have cut a dashing figure, standing 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall. He was based at Yatesbury Airfield in Wiltshire, and was learning to fly a BE2, twin seater biplane.
At 8:30pm on 31st May, his aircraft collided with another, sending Ernest’s machine spinning into a nosedive. He crashed into the ground and was killed instantly.
The body of Ernest Osborn Tracey was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church, Dartmouth.
Ernest’s will gave his mother, Alice, as his beneficiary. The newspaper report suggests that Henry had travelled to New Zealand to tend a new flock there, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as being “Chaplain to the Forces” and Vicar of Dartmouth.
It certainly seems that any time spent in New Zealand was limited. By the time of the 1921 census, Reverend Tracey had found a new posting, in the Staffordshire village of Gentleshaw. The same census return found Alice staying with their daughter, Rosamond, and her family, in Totnes, Devon.
Lewis Scott White was born at the start of 1896 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of four children, his parents were surgeon Edward White and his wife, Fanny. The 1911 census recorded the family living in a substantial property in Green Park: the now medical practitioner Edward, Fanny and Lewis sharing the 12-room house with a servant, Ellen Fry.
As befitting of his station in life, Lewis’ education was a well rounded one: “[he] was educated at Bath College and Kelly College, Tavistock, and was coached for his matriculation examination by Mr Samuel Edwards, of Grosvenor College. He exhibited a fondness for aeronautics when quite a lad. While at Victoria College he evinced much enthusiasm for the art of flying, and made models of flying machines. One of these miniature planes he flew successfully on Lansdown, and we believe showed at an exhibition in London. He was one of the leading spirits in the Bath Aerial Club, which used to meet at the Church Institute.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]
Lewis’s mechanical mind was put to good use in his working life as well. He found employment as a motor fitter, and this is what he was doing when war broke out in the summer of 1914. He felt duty bound to service his King and his Country, and, on 20th October, he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps as an Air Mechanic. His service records confirm the man he had become: at 18 years of age, he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall and weighed 117lbs (53kg). He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
His skill and daring earned promotion, and he was given a commission… He accomplished many fine feats in actual aerial warfare on the Western Front, and for one of these some months ago he was awarded the Military Cross. He was acting as an observer when the flight occurred; the pilot in the same machine was given the DSO.
While wearing only one wing he came home to England to train as a pilot. He rapidly passed all the tests for this, and obtained the two wings, and was gazetted Captain of the RFC on May 5th last. It was only on Wednesday last week that Captain White attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace and was decorated by the King with the MC. So complete was his mastery of flying machines and so great his initiative that Captain White was appointed Flight Instructor, and for the last two months he had been Flight Commander quartered in Wiltshire.
[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]
On 29th September 1917, Captain White was piloting a Sopwith Camel from RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire, when the aircraft failed to pull up from a dive. It crashed into the ground and Lewis was killed instantly. He was just 21 years of age.
It is no secret that the aeronaut whose intrepid feats in the air above Bath of late had caused much notice was Captain White. He would loop the loop with the greatest ease, and his nose-diving was most daring. When questioned why he performed these dangerous acts in the air Captain White would declare that there was no risk from engine trouble unless a man ‘lost his head,’ and apparently he had no idea that is was possible for him to get into difficulties from that cause. It is to be surmised therefore that in the accident which had cost his life, so especially valuable to the country now, something beyond engine trouble must have happened.
To stay-at-home and peacefully minded citizens some of the manoeuvring by aeroplanes in flight savours too much of the sensational, and they are apt to think that it is unnecessarily throwing away chances. But such an impression is as unjust as it is unkind. The strange evolutions described by machines in mid-air are just the kind that have to be executed in actual aerial warfare when seeking to gain an advantage over the foe, and unless this preliminary training were carefully and systematically gone through it would be hopeless to seek to acquire the necessary skill in the moment of crisis. Captain White was absolutely fearless, and his death will be deeply deplored by by many comrades who knew his worth.
[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 06 October 1917]
A subsequent inquest found no immediate cause for the crash, but suggested that Captain White may have misjudged the distance whilst diving and flew into ground.
The body of Lewis Scott White was brought back to Somerset for burial He was laid to rest in the majestic Locksbook Cemetery in Bath, his funeral attracting a full page report in the city’s Chronicle and Weekly Gazette.
Leo Edwin Aldrich was born on 14th July 1897 in the Ohio city of Elyria, and was the only child to Hiram and Agnes Aldrich. Hiram was a machinist from New York and, by the time of the 1910 census, he had found work as a toolmaker for a motor company, and the family has moved to Detroit, Michigan, 150 miles (240km) along Lake Erie’s coastline.
When war came to Europe, Leo seemed keen to get involved. Full details of his military service are lost to time, but it seems that he enlisted in the Canadian Royal Engineers. By the summer of 1918, Leo was in Britain, and had transferred to the Royal Air Force. He had reached the rank of Second Lieutenant and was based at Yatesbury Airfield in Wiltshire.
On 14th November 1918, just three days after the Armistice was signed, he was flying in a Bristol F2b fighter aircraft, when it nosedived into the ground. Both Second Lieutant Aldrich and his passenger Second Lieutenant McDougall were seriously injured, and were taken to Bath War Hospital for treatment.
Sadly, Leo’s injuries were to prove to be too severe. He passed away the same day: he was just 21 years of age.
Leo Edwin Aldrich was laid to rest in Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he passed.
Leo’s service records suggest that his next of kin was his wife, Mrs Leo Aldrich of 480 East 112th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. There are no identifiable marriage records for him although, intriguingly another one does exist.
This confirms the wedding of a George L Aldrich to a Helen J Seymour on 6th August 1918 in Cuyahoga, Ohio. As the names do not match, the record would normally be dismissed, but the parents’ names – Hiram and Agnes – match Leo’s, as does the place of birth – Elyria – and his occupation – Second Lieutenant.
Further details for Helen Seymour, and why Leo may have given the name George, are lost to time.
On Tuesday morning another member of the Royal Flying Corps, Second Lieutenant Henry Roland Fleming, lost his life at Upavon. Lieutenant Fleming, who was 28 years of age, and married, having his home at Ripley, Surrey, was attached to the Central Flying School early last month, having volunteered for service on the outbreak of war, joining the Special Reserve Air Service. Nearly four years ago he gained the Aero Club’s certificate at Brooklands, but for nearly two years prior to the outbreak of war had not practiced aviation. On Tuesday morning the conditions were very favourable for flying, and the deceased’s flight was watched by Major Webb-Bowen, assistant commandant at the school, and Captain Stopford, who was flying at the same time. Lieutenant Fleming was about 1200ft [365m] up when the attitude of his machine first attracted the attention of the officers. They noticed it dive in an almost vertical position, after which it turned over on its back and glided for some distance upside down. Then it turned its nose to ground again, and from a height of some 450 feet [137m] dived straight into the earth. Death was instantaneous. The officers found Mr Fleming dead in the remains of the machine, with the strap broke in the fall still about his waist. Medical examination showed that he had dislocated his neck and fractured his skull. Lieutenant Fleming, who comes from a well-known family, was one of the first in the country to take up aviation. His father went through the Crimean Campaign in the 4th Irish Dragoon Guards, and a brother was killed in the South African War.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal: Saturday 28th November 1914
Henry Roland Fleming was born in the summer of 1884 in Farnham, Surrey. There is scant information about his early life, but the 1911 census recorded him as boarding at the New Inn in Amesbury, Wiltshire, where he was employed as an aviator.
Henry gained his wings on the 25th April 1911 – shortly after the census – flying a Bristol biplane. He married Ivy Wyness-Stuart, a widow six years his senior, in the spring of 1913, but after this, the couple’s trail goes cold.
When war broke out, Henry stepped up to play his part. He gained a commission to the Royal Flying Corps and, once again found himself based on Salisbury Plain. Tragically it was only a matter of months because the fatal accident.
While his widow was living in Surrey, her Henry Roland Fleming was laid to rest in Amesbury Cemetery, not far from airfield where he had developed his flying skills.
Second Lieutenant Henry Fleming (from findagrave.com)
The life of Forrest Dinnett Evans is a challenge to uncover, although his service records shed tantalising glimpses into his history.
Forrest enlisted in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps on 8th August 1917. He joined up in Toronto, Canada, but gave his address as 26 Leicester Drive, Boston, Massachusetts.The same document gives his middle names as Dennett, and that his father was called George William Evans. It also suggests that both men were British subjects. While it’s not clear when the Evans family moved to North America, there are no UK census or birth records for either man.
Forrest was 19 years 9 months old when he enlisted and stood 5ft 10ins (1.77m) tall. He gave his trade as an student aviation cadet. He was mobilised straight away, and sent to Britain. His time in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps came to an end on 18th December 1917, when he received a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.
Second Lieutenant Evans, as he was now known, was based at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. It was here, on 27th March 1918, that he was in charge of an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 two-seater biplane. Shortly after take off, the aircraft span into the ground: Forrest was killed instantly. He was 20 years of age.
With his family overseas, Forrest Dinnett Evans was laid to rest in Amesbury Cemetery, just a few miles from Boscombe Down.
Keith Charles Beddy was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. His parents were Walter and Isabella Beddy, and he was the sixth of eight children.
Little additional information is available about Keith’s early life. When war broke out, he enlisted in the army, eventually becoming assigned to the 5th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. Rising through the ranks to the rank of Lieutenant, he eventually transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.
Lieutenant Beddy was based on Boscombe Down, near Amesbury, Wiltshire. On 6th February 1918, he was flying his RAF BE 2e aircraft when he attempted a turn at a low altitude. The plane nose-dived and crashed into the ground, and Keith was killed instantly. He was just 21 years of age.
With his family on the other side of the world, Keith Charles Beddy was laid to rest in Amesbury Cemetery, not far from the airfield where he had been based.
News has been received at Bathpool, Taunton, that Lieutenant HB Redler, MC (RAF), was killed while flying at Turnberry, near Ayr. Lieutenant Redler, who was 21 years of age, was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs DB Redler, of Moorreesbury [sic], South Africa, and formerly of Bathpool, Taunton, and he sailed from South Africa with a schoolfellow at the end of 1915, at the age of 18, in order to join the Royal Flying Corps. On arrival in England they found no vacancies, and entered the Artists’ Rifles OTC, from which they joined the RFC. After obtaining his commission, Lieut. Redler spent a few months in France last year, and was then sent to Ayr as a fighting instructor. In March of this year he was sent to France for a six weeks’ course, during which he won the Military Cross, and it is believed that his record will show a total of nearly twenty enemy machines brought down.
Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 3rd July 1918
Harold Bolton Redler was born in Worcester, Worcestershire, on 27th January 1897. The oldest of five children, his parents were Daniel and Annie. Daniel was a flour miller from Devon, and the family had moved to Worcester the year before Harold was born.
In 1903, the Redlers emigrated to South Africa. Initially settling in King William’s Town (now Qonce), they moved to Moorreesburg after the birth of Harold’s youngest sibling, Norman, in 1906.
Harold was educated at the Bishops Diocesan College in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and it was from here that he and his friend decided to step up and serve their King and Empire. Sadly, his service records have been consigned to history, and only the newspaper report remains to piece together his time in service.
Lieutenant Redler’s awarding of the Military Cross, however, is documented:
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He encountered four enemy two-seater machines and attacking the lowest drove it to the ground with its engine damaged. Later he attacked one of five enemy two-seater machines and drove it down out of control. He has destroyed in all three enemy machines and driven three others down out of control. He continually attacked enemy troops and transport from a low altitude during operations and showed splendid qualities of courage and determination throughout.
London Gazette: 22nd June 1918
On the morning of 21st June 1918, Lieutenant Redler was flying a de Havilland DH9 aircraft, accompanied by Captain Ian Henderson. The plane was fitted with a Lewis gun, which the pair were testing. At 10am, the aircraft crashed, and both were killed. No immediate cause was identified, and their RAF cards record an open verdict. Harold was just 21 years of age.
With his parents and siblings in South Africa, Harold Bolton Redler’s body was taken to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest with his paternal grandparents in the peaceful St Augustine’s Churchyard in West Monkton.
Claude John Howard Rawlings was born on 5th November 1896 in the Monmouthshire village of Aberbeeg. One of three children, his parents were Sidney and Alice Rawlings. Sidney was a brewer from Bath, Somerset, while Alice was born in the Welsh village and this is where the couple raised their family.
By the time of the 1911 census, Claude had been sent to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and was a boarding student at the Brynmalyn Private School to the north of the town centre. His heritage would not have been out of place, though, as nine of the 25 live-in students were from Wales. Claude’s parents seemed to have taken the opportunity to visit Sidney’s mother in Bath, a possible prequel to them moving back to Somerset permanently.
Claude completed his schooling at Brynmalyn the following year, and took up a place as an agricultural student in Broadstone, Dorset. When war broke out, however, he was called upon to play his part.
Details of Claude’s military service are sketchy, but he initially enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment and was assigned to the 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion. The regiment service in France and Italy from 1915 onwards, but there is no evidence of Private Rawlings serving anywhere other than on home soil.
Claude wanted greater things, and was drawn to a life in the sky. In the spring of 1918, he transferred to the Royal Air Force, and was attached to 125 Squadron. Sent to Fowlmere Airfield near Royston, Hertfordshire, Flight Cadet Rawlings began his training. Over the next couple of months, he learnt to fly a Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 biplane.
Flight Cadet Rawlings was dong a routine practice flight on 12th August 1918, when, during a left hand turn, the aircraft’s side slipped and nose dived. The plane crashed to the ground, and Claude was killed instantly. He was just 21 years of age.
The body of Claude John Howard Rawlings was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath Abbey Cemetery.
Flight Cadet Claude Rawlings (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Claude’s grave was a family plot, and he was reunited with his parents when Alice and Sidney died in 1933 and 1945 respectively.
The inscription on the family headstone gives Claude’s date of death as October 1918. All other records confirm the crash took place on 12th August, and that he died at the scene.
Death and Service 