|
List Of World War I Aces From New Zealand
Below is the list of World War I flying aces from New Zealand. While New Zealand did not have its own military air service during World War I, many New Zealanders did join Australian or British military aviation to fight in the war. Some of New Zealand's first class of aces continued to serve post-war, whether in the Royal Air Force or the Royal New Zealand Air Force; some served in World War II. Several earned advanced rank in the process. References {{Lists of New Zealanders New Zealand World War I flying aces The following are lists of World War I flying aces. Historically, a flying ace was defined as a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The term was first used by French newspapers, describ ... New Zealand aviators ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Aces
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more. The concept of the "ace" emerged in 1915 during World War I, at the same time as aerial dogfighting. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a war of attrition. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era. For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and air superiority depended heavily on the relative availability ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth. A parachute is usually made of a light, strong fabric. Early parachutes were made of silk. The most common fabric today is nylon. A parachute's canopy is typically dome-shaped, but some are rectangles, inverted domes, and other shapes. A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs. History Middle Ages In 852, in Córdoba, Spain, the Moorish man Armen Firman attempted unsuccessfully to fly by jumping from a tower while wearing a large cloak. It was recorded that "there was enough air in the folds of his cloak to prevent great injury when he reached the ground." Early Renaissance The earliest evidence f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carrick Paul
Lieutenant Carrick Stewart Paul DFC (5 February 1893–22 January 1919 was a World War I flying ace from New Zealand. He was credited with five aerial victories in Palestine between May and August 1918 when flying a Bristol F.2 Fighter. Biography Carrick Paul was born at Thames in New Zealand on 5 February 1893. After the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, and was posted to the 6th Light Horse Regiment. In April 1916, he was mentioned in despatches. He later transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and served in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. Flying a Bristol F.2 fighter, Paul claimed two victories on 23 May 1918, near Nablus. One of the two Albatros D.Vs was piloted by German ace Gustav Schneidewind, who was wounded in both arms. Paul then destroyed Rumpler reconnaissance planes on 13 June, 28 July, and 16 August 1918. The July win was shared with Alan Brown and Garfield Finlay. Paul and his observer William Weir were join ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies south of Sicily (Italy), east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language. Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. With a population of about 516,000 over an area of , Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated sovereign cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Vice Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air vice-marshal is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7. It is equivalent to a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy or a major-general in the British Army or the Royal Marines. In other NATO forces, such as the United States Armed Forces and the Canadian Armed Forces, the equivalent two-star rank is major general. The rank of air vice-marshal is immediately senior to the rank air commodore and immediately subordinate to the rank of air marshal. Since before the Second World War it has been common for air officers commanding RAF groups to hold the rank of air vice-marshal. In small air forces such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forster Maynard
Air Vice Marshal Forster Herbert Martin "Sammy" Maynard, (1 May 1893 – 26 January 1976) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force and a flying ace credited with six aerial victories during the First World War. He also served as the Air Officer Commanding Malta during the early part of the Second World War. His son, Nigel Maynard, also became an air marshal in the RAF. Early life He was born in New Zealand to a Church of England clergyman. The family returned to England two years later and he was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, and University College London. World War I Maynard joined the Royal Naval Division in 1914 as an engineer. He transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service the following year. After training, he became an instructor until 1916. In January 1917, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron RNAS on the Western Front. While there, flying a Sopwith Triplane, he ran up a string of six victories from 29 April through 1 June 1917; his final tally included an en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Dallas
Roderic Stanley (Stan) Dallas, (30 July 1891 – 1 June 1918) was an Australian fighter ace of World War I. His score of aerial victories is generally regarded as the second-highest by an Australian, after Robert Little, but there is considerable dispute over Dallas's exact total. Though his official score is commonly given as 39, claim-by-claim analyses list as few as 32, and other research credits him with over 50, compared to Little's official tally of 47. Like Little, Dallas flew with British units, rather than the Australian Flying Corps. Beyond his personal combat record, Dallas achieved success as a squadron leader, both in the air and on the ground. He was also an influential tactician and test pilot. His service spanned almost the entirety of World War I fighter aviation. Born on a remote property in rural Queensland, Dallas showed an early interest in aviation. He travelled to England at his own expense following the outbreak of World War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Culling
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Grey Culling DSC (31 May 1896 – 8 June 1917) was New Zealand's first flying ace of the First World War. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Culling joined the Samoa Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War but was prevented from departing the country by his father, due to his age. He travelled to England in 1915 and joined the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). From September 1916, he flew with the No. 1 Squadron, RNAS, on the Western Front. He shot down his first German aircraft in April 1917 and would be credited with a total of six aerial victories, the first New Zealander to become a flying ace during the war, by the time of his death on 8 June 1917. Early life Thomas Grey Culling was born on 31 May 1896 in Dunedin to a notable local family. His father, Thomas Shepherd Culling, was a businessman and local body politician, after whom Dunedin's Culling Park is named. His grandfather, also Thomas Culling, was a printer and paper mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 to other ranks, of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy". History The award was established on 3 June 1918, shortly after the formation of the Royal Air Force (RAF), with the Royal Warrant published on 5 December 1919. It was originally awarded to RAF commissioned and warrant officers, including officers in Commonwealth and allied forces. In March 1941 eligibility was extended to Naval Officers of the Fleet Air Arm, and in November 1942 to Army officers, including Royal Artillery officers serving on attachment to the RAF as pilots-cum-artillery observers. Posthumous awards were permitted from 1979. Since the 1993 review of the honours system as part of the drive to remove disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Drewitt
Captain Herbert Frank Stacey Drewitt (25 March 1895 – 4 January 1927) was a New Zealand World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He was one of the few Royal Army aces that used French-built Spads as his weapon. World War I service Drewitt, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, served originally in 23 Squadron. For his first kill, he used a Spad VII to shoot a German observation plane down in flames on 17 October 1917. Ten days later, he sent an Albatros D.V down out of control. He repeated the feat on 24 January 1918. On 11 March 1918, he switched mounts to a Spad XIII to defeat an observation plane. The following day saw him back in his Spad VII, as he destroyed an Albatros D.V. On both 15 and 16 March, he destroyed an enemy reconnaissance plane. Drewitt moved on to fly a Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Gordon (aviator)
Frederick Stanley Gordon, (29 October 1897 – 27 July 1985) was a New Zealand flying ace of the First World War. While serving in Britain's Royal Air Force, he scored nine aerial victories as a fighter pilot. Early life Frederick Stanley Gordon was born in New Zealand on 29 October 1897. First World War Gordon served in the Royal Air Force. By mid-1918, he was assigned to No. 74 Squadron as a fighter pilot. He began a nine victory winning streak on 2 August 1918 that was capped with his second ballon busting mission on 30 October. Gordon was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 3 June 1919, and the Belgian Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ... on 15 July. List of aerial victories Post-war Gordon died on 27 June 1985.Shores et al, p. 172. En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
