Captain Adrian James Boswell Tonks (10 May 1898 – 14 July 1919) was a British

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying ace 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 co ...

. He was officially credited with twelve aerial victories, and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Early life and background

Tonks was born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, Warwickshire, the son of Arthur George Tonks, a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

, and his wife Alice.

World War I

Tonks entered the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

as a probationary flight

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

with seniority from 13 August 1916. He received

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

Aviator's Certificate No. 4206 after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Royal Naval Air Service Training Establishment Cranwell on 28 December 1916. In August 1917 Tonks was posted to No. 4 (Naval) Squadron to fly the

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

single-seat fighter, gaining his first aerial victories during his first combat mission on 22 August, when he sent down two German

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

fighters out of control south-east of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

. On 9 November, it was a DFW reconnaissance two-seater that he put down out of control north of

Pervijze Pervijze (french: Pervyse, English ''Pervyse'') is a small rural village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a part ("Deelgemeente") of the municipality of Diksmuide. Pervijze has an area of 12.23 km² and almost 900 inhabitants. Be ...

, Belgium. On 23 November 1917, he scored another "out of control" victory east of

Keiem Keiem is a small town situated some 7 km north of Diksmuide in West Flanders, Belgium. Administratively it forms part of Diksmuide Municipality. Lying close to the right bank of the River Yser, the town suffered extensive flooding when, on ...

, over another Albatros D.V. Tonks was promoted to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

on 1 January 1918. On 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, and No. 4 (Naval) became No. 204 Squadron RAF, and Tonks became a lieutenant with the honorary rank of captain in the new service. He resumed scoring on 30 June 1918, driving down a

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

out of control over

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeeb ...

. On 8 July he was appointed a temporary captain. On both 10 and 13 August, he drove down another Fokker D.VII, the latter being flown by ''Leutnant''

Dieter Collin Leutnant Dieter Collin (17 February 1893—13 August 1918) IC was a World War I German flying ace credited with 13 aerial victories.The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/collin.php Retrieved on 12 April 2010. Early li ...

, the ''Staffelführer'' of ''

Jasta 56 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 56, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 56, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The squadron would score 63 aerial victories d ...

''. On 15 August, he sent down three Fokker D.VIIs out of control east of

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

. On 28 September 1918, he destroyed a Fokker D.VII over

Werken Werken is a small rural village in the centre of the Belgian province of West Flanders with around a thousand inhabitants. It is a district of Kortemark. Origins of the name The first mentions (Weretha) were found in texts from the Abbey of S ...

, and sent another down out of control. He then turned to low-altitude ground attack missions. until October 1918 when he was rested from combat. Tonks won two Distinguished Flying Crosses in quick succession. The first one, awarded on 2 November 1918, was granted for his valour in aerial combat. His citation read: He received a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross in lieu of a second award on 3 December 1918. His citation read:

List of aerial victories

Post-war career

On 3 January 1919, Tonks was confirmed in his rank of captain. He was posted to

No. 80 Squadron RAF No. 80 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II. Establishment and early service Founded on 1 August 1917 at RAF Montrose, equipped ...

in the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning of ...

, based at RAF Aboukir,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, but on 13 July 1919 he crashed his

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, and died from his injuries the following day. He is buried in plot B.158 in the Hadra War Memorial Cemetery in Alexandria.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonks, Adrian 1898 births 1919 deaths People from Solihull Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Egypt Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1919