Tom Rees (aviator)

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Tom Rees
Villers Plouich, France
RankCaptain
Unit14th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers
No. 11 Squadron RFC

Tom Rees (18 May 1895 – 17 September 1916) was a

80 credited aerial combat victories
.

Early life

Tom Rees was born on 18 May 1895 to a Welsh-speaking farming family at Cefnbrynich, a farm near Sennybridge about 10 miles (16 km) from Brecon in Wales. The son of Thomas Rees and Alice Rees (née Evans), he was the youngest of their six children. He attended Brecon Boys' County School,[1] before commencing at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth in 1912.[2] He was considered a scholar and was described as a smart university student.[3][4]

Military career

While Rees was at Aberystwyth University, he joined the

captain, which was promulgated on 17 September 1916.[5]

Death

Lionel Morris, who was the pilot of Rees' aircraft, in 1916
FE 2b, serial number 7018

On Sunday, 17 September 1916, Rees was the observer in a two-man F. E. 2b, serial number 7018, piloted by Second Lieutenant Lionel Morris.

No. 12 Squadron RFC and four from No. 11 Squadron were shot down, including Rees and Morris' aircraft, which was shot down by von Richthofen.[6][11][13] Rees was killed during the dogfight with von Richthofen;[B][17][18][19] this was the "Red Baron's" first official victory.[20]

von Richthofen recalled getting a superior position on a two-seater British plane for his first confirmed kill. “I gave a short series of shots with my machine gun.” In the dogfight, von Richthofen said he "had gone so close that I was afraid I might dash into the Englishman. Suddenly, I nearly yelled with joy for the propeller of the enemy machine had stopped turning.”[21]

For von Richthofen, this was the first of the 80 confirmed

Lewis machine gun (which could also be turned to fire backwards over the pilot). Von Richthofen recounted that at the time he was not sure whether the F.E.2b would fall, until he was able to close up behind it during a moment of nonevasive flying, taking advantage of the F.E.2b's vulnerability underneath.[17] After he fired, the propeller stopped turning, indicating that he must have hit the engine.[24] Rees was not visible and the plane was flying unsteadily, indicating to von Richthofen that both British men had been injured. Morris managed to land the aeroplane at a nearby German airfield at Flesquières. Von Richthofen followed the F. E. 2b down and saw the dead observer and badly wounded pilot (who died later the same day), then flew back to his squadron's base at Bertincourt.[14]

He contacted a jeweller in Berlin and ordered a silver cup engraved with the date and the type of enemy aircraft ("1. Vickers 2. 17.9.16").[D] He continued to celebrate each of his victories in the same manner until he had 60 cups, by which time the dwindling supply of silver in blockaded Germany meant that silver cups could no longer be supplied. Von Richthofen discontinued his orders at this stage, rather than accept cups made from base metal.[5][17][E]

Manfred von Richthofen later recalled, "I was animated by a single thought: the man in front of me must come down".[12] He closed in to point-blank range, opened fire, and "suddenly the opponent's propeller turned no more. Hit!"[12] The plane evidently lacked the speed to return to its own lines. When it was forced down, von Richthofen landed his craft near the aircraft and documented his kill.[17] This delayed his return to the Jasta headquarters, and he explained the delay with "One Englishman shot down".[12].

Rees was buried with full military honours by the Germans.

Villers Plouich.[17][27][28] Rees's family learnt of his death in November 1916, on the morning of the funeral of his older brother David John, who had been killed in a tree-felling accident adjacent to the family farm.[29]

Morris is buried at Cambrai, Porte de Paris Cemetery, Grave: I A 16.[30]

Rees was described to Morris' father, in a letter from the pilot of another aircraft that was also shot down, as being "a very capable and plucky observer".[31]

Legacy

After his death, Rees was nominated for a

Mention in Despatches, for his "excellent work as an observer" by his commanding officer, who cited that he had flown many sorties between July and September 1916, before being posted as missing in action.[5] He was later awarded the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal, and the British Victory Medal for war service.[11][32] In 1999, Rees's war medals were sold at auction, and fetched £4,500 (circa US$7,200) because of their historical significance.[3]

For the 100th anniversary of Rees and Morris' deaths, descendants of von Richthofen and Rees and Morris met each other for the first time.[33]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Some of Morris's records are retained at The National Archives, Kew.[9]
  2. ^ Richthofen's own career was cut short when he was mortally wounded by a single bullet and made a similar landing before expiring. The "Red Baron" had a fear that he would die in flames (the number of aircraft that went down in flames increased substantially in 1917–18, probably due to changed ammunition) and be denied the final honour of a burial beneath a cross. Like Rees and Morris, he was accorded full military honours, this time by Australian troops. Notably, von Richthofen's mentor, Oswald Boelcke expired and accomplished a deadstick landing and had no visible wounds after perhaps colliding with Erwin Böhme, and also involving his most famous pupil.[12][14][15][16]
  3. Farman aircraft, but received no credit when it fell behind Allied lines. After a chance meeting with German ace fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke, he undertook pilot training. After soloing on 10 October 1915, and passing his pilot's examination on 25 December, he joined a bomber squadron in March 1916. On 26 April, while flying over Verdun in an Albatros C.III, he shot down a French Nieuport, but once again was denied credit.[22]
  4. ^ Similar cups had been officially awarded to some earlier pilots on their first victories, although the practice had been discontinued by this time.[citation needed]
  5. ^ Burrows has suggested that he was simply bored with the procedure and that this was an excuse to discontinue it.[citation needed]

Citations

  1. ^ Carr, Clifford. "The Boys' County/Grammar School". Powys Digital History Project. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. ^ John, Steven. "Aberystwyth University WW1 memorial". West Wales War Memorial Project 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. ^
    Dix Noonan Webb
    . 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. ^ "First Royal Flying Corps aircraft to be shot down by the 'Red Baron'". XenForo Ltd. 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Noonan, Dix. "Lot 700: [ Medals ] The Historic Great War group to Lieutenant Tom Rees, Royal Welsh Fusiliers". Invaluable. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Swopes, Bryan (17 September 2013). "This Day in Aviation – September 17, 1916". The Red Baron Archives. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  7. ^ Hart 2015, p. 237.
  8. ^ Bush 2019.
  9. ^ "2nd Lieutenant Lionel Morris, Royal Field Artillery". The National Archives, Kew. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  10. ^ Jones 2002, pp. 282–283.
  11. ^ a b c Dube, Steve (6 December 1999). "Medals of Welsh co-pilot shot down by Red Baron to be auctioned". The Western Mail.
  12. ^ a b c d e Rice 2013, p. 36.
  13. ^ "Battles this Month – March 1917: "The Red Baron"" (PDF). The Western Front Association. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  14. ^ a b Kilduff 1999, pp. 51–52.
  15. ^ "Manfred von Richthofen". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  16. ^
    ISSN 0048-8933
    .
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Simon. "Villers Plouich". First World War. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  18. ^ Guttman 2009, p. 41.
  19. ^ O'Connor & Franks 2004, p. 103.
  20. ^ Rice 2013, p. 36 Manfred von Richthofen had scored his first official victory..
  21. ^ Andrews, Evan (13 August 2018). "Ace of Aces: How the Red Baron Became WWI's Most Legendary Fighter Pilot". History Channel. Retrieved 17 February 2021. Manfred von Richthofen—better known as the "Red Baron"—was the top scoring flying ace of World War I, with 80 aerial victories between September 1916 and his death in April 1918.
  22. Robinson Library. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  23. ^ Miller 2013, p. 41.
  24. History Channel. Archived from the original
    on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  25. Illustrated Sunday Herald
    . 9 December 1917. p. 7.
  26. ^ von Richthofen, Friedrich Manfred (4 February 2020) [1933]. Der rote Kampfflieger (in German). Deutscher Verlag: Ullstein Freiherr, Good Press.
  27. ^ "Tom Rees". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  28. ^ Tom Reese Wales at War.
  29. ^ "Sennybridge Fatality – Impressive Funeral". Brecon and Radnor Express. 30 November 1916.
  30. ^ "Morris, Lionel Bertram Frank". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  31. ^ O'Connor 2003.
  32. ^ "Medals of Red Baron victim sold". BBC News. 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  33. ^ Richards, Matthew (19 September 2016). "Germany's Red Baron relative meets Welsh WW1 victim's family". BBC. Retrieved 5 October 2016.

Sources

Further reading

External links
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