Lanoe Hawker
Lanoe George Hawker | |
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First World War
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Awards | Mentioned in Despatches |
Lanoe George Hawker,
He was killed in a dogfight with the famous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), who described him as "the British Boelcke".[1]
Early life
Hawker was born on 30 December 1890 at
Lanoe was sent to Stubbington House School and at the age of 11 to the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth, but although highly intelligent and an enthusiastic sportsman, he suffered from a weak constitution, which led to jaundice. With the strenuous nature of a naval career unsuitable, he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich before joining the Royal Engineers as an officer cadet.[6] A clever inventor, Hawker developed a keen interest in all mechanical and engineering developments. During the summer of 1910 he saw a film featuring the Wright Flyer and after attending an aircraft flying display at Bournemouth, he quickly found an interest in aviation, learning to fly at his own expense at Hendon. On 4 March 1913, Hawker was awarded Aviator's Certificate No. 435 by the Royal Aero Club.
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in October 1913 he was posted to Cork Harbour with the 33rd Fortress Company.[7] His request for attachment to the Royal Flying Corps was granted and he reported to the Central Flying School at Upavon on 1 August 1914,[7] three days before Britain entered the First World War.
With the Royal Flying Corps
Hawker was posted to France in October 1914, as a
Returning to 6 Squadron after hospitalisation, the squadron now received several single-seat scouts, and some early F.E.2 'pushers'. One aircraft received was a Bristol Scout C, with RFC s/n 1609 that Hawker, with assistance from Air Mechanic Ernest Elton (who later became an Ace Pilot himself), equipped with their design of Lewis gun mount, enabling the machine gun to fire forward obliquely at an acute horizontal angle to the axis of flight, missing the propeller arc.[8]
While with No 6 squadron in 1915, Captain Hawker was a comrade of Captain Louis Strange. The Squadron became pioneers of many aspects in military aviation at the time, driven largely by the imagination of Strange and the engineering talents of Hawker. Their talents led to various mountings for Lewis machine guns, one of which won Hawker the Victoria Cross, and one that nearly cost Strange his life.[9]
Hawker's innovative ideas at this time greatly benefited the fledgling RFC. He helped to invent the Prideaux disintegrating link machine-gun belt feed, and initiated the practice of putting fabric protective coverings on the tips of wooden propellers, the use of fur-lined thigh boots, and devising a primitive 'rocking fuselage' for target practice on the ground. In 1916 he also developed (with W.L. French) the increased capacity 97-round 'double drum' for the Lewis machine gun. It was issued for trials in July and after modifications was issued generally to the RFC and RNAS.[10]
Victoria Cross
Following an initial air victory in June, on 25 July 1915 when on patrol over
This particular sortie was just one of the many which Captain Hawker undertook during almost a year of constant operational flying and fighting. He claimed at least three more victories in August 1915, either in the Scout or flying an F.E.2.[citation needed]
Hawker was posted back to England in late 1915, with some seven victory claims (including one captured, three destroyed, one 'out of control' and one 'forced to land') making him the first British flying ace, and a figure of considerable fame within the ranks of the RFC.
It has since been argued that shooting down three aircraft in one mission was a feat repeated several times by later pilots, and whether Hawker deserved his Victoria Cross has been questioned. However, in the context of the air war of mid-1915 it was unusual to shoot down even one aircraft, and the VC was awarded on the basis that all the enemy planes were armed with machine guns. More significantly, by the early summer of 1915, the German
Hawker flew before Britain had any workable synchroniser gear, so his Bristol Scout had its machine gun mounted on the left side of the cockpit, firing forwards and sideways at a 45 degree angle to avoid the propeller. The only direction from which he could attack an enemy was from its right rear quarter – precisely in a direction from which it was easy for the observer to fire at him. Thus, in each of the three attacks, Hawker was directly exposed to the fire of an enemy machine gun.
First Fighter Squadron
Promoted to major early in 1916. Hawker was placed in command of the RFC's first (single seater) fighter squadron,
He then led the squadron back to
By mid 1916, RFC policy was to ban squadron commanders from operational flying, Hawker included. However, he continued to make frequent offensive patrols and reconnaissance flights, particularly over the Somme battlefields.
As the year wore on, the Germans introduced far more potent fighters to the front, starting with the Luftstreitkräfte's first biplane fighter, the single-gun armed Halberstadt D.II, and shortly thereafter the even more advanced, twin-gunned Albatros D.I, rapidly making the DH.2 obsolete.
Death
On 23 November 1916, while flying an
Legacy
Hawker's original Victoria Cross was lost when the Hawker family belongings were left behind after the fall of France in 1940. On their return after the
A window (designed by
A memorial to Hawker was unveiled in the village of Ligny Thilloy, one km from where he crashed and was buried, on 11 November 2011. It was erected by XXIV Squadron, Royal Air Force, beside the village war memorial.
Hawker was portrayed by Corin Redgrave in the 1971 film Von Richthofen and Brown. In the 2008 film The Red Baron, he was played by Richard Krajčo.
References
- ^ Burrows 1970, p. 103.
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 13th edition, ed. A. Winton Thorpe, 1921, p. 565
- ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry, vol. II, ed. Ashworth P. Burke, 1895, p. 776-777
- ^ Hawker VC RFC Ace- The Life of Major Lanoe Hawker, VC, DSO, 1890-1916, Tyrrel Hawker, MC, The Mitre Press, 1965, p. 4
- ^ Staunton 2005, p. 298.
- ^ Hawker VC RFC Ace- The Life of Major Lanoe Hawker, VC, DSO, 1890-1916, Tyrrel Hawker, MC, The Mitre Press, 1965, p. 19
- ^ a b Bowyer, Chaz. "Hawker – Pioneer of air fighting". Aircraft Illustrated Extra (7). Ian Allan Ltd: 11–18.
- ^ Guttman 2009, p. 22.
- ^ "NOVA | Strange Captain Strange". PBS. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Early A I Rcraft Armament". Quarry.nildram.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
- ^ German plane shot down 25 July 1915 – Great War Forum at greatwarforum.org
- ^ Guttman 2009, pp. 22 – 23.
- ^ "No. 29273". The London Gazette. 24 August 1915. p. 8395.
- ^ Guttman 2009, p. 31 – 32.
- ^ 'Somme Success', P. Hart, Pen & Sword, 2001; page 52
- ^ Guttman 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Guttman 2009, p. 46 – 48.
- ^ CWGC entry
- ^ "The following Victoria Crosses are held by the Royal Air Force Museum". victoriacross.org. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ Eberhard, Robert (October 2009). "Stained Glass Windows at St. Nicholas, Longparish, Hampshire". Church Stained Glass Windows. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- ^ "St. Nicholas, Longparish". Hampshire Church Windows. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- ^ "St. Nicholas Church". Longparish Village Handbook. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
Bibliography
- Guttman, Jon (2009). Pusher Aces of World War I. Osprey Pub Co. ISBN 978-1-84603-417-6.
- Staunton, Anthony (2005). Victoria Cross: Australia's Finest and the Battles they Fought. Prahran, Victoria, Australia: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 1-74066-288-1.
- Hawker, Tyrrel (30 August 2013). Hawker VC RFC ACE: The life of Major Lanoe Hawker VC DSO, 1890-1916. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1781593455.