Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Alan John Lance Scott, (29 June 1883 – 16 January 1922) was an officer in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

and Royal Air Force during the First World War and the following years.

Early life

Scott was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 29 June 1883, but moved to in England where he attended Oxford University, from which he graduated with a law degree. He practiced as a barrister in London, and was acquainted with

Lord Birkenhead Earl of Birkenhead was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for the noted lawyer and Conservative politician F. E. Smith, 1st Viscount Birkenhead. He was Solicitor-General in 1915, Attorney-General from 1915 to ...

and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

First World War

He was originally an officer in the British Army's

Sussex Yeomanry The Sussex Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the British Army dating from 1794. It was initially formed when there was a threat of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. After being reformed in the Second Boer War, it served in the First Wo ...

, later transferring to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. Scott never became a very good pilot; in fact, in training, he crashed and broke both legs. He continued training on canes, and had to be assisted into the cockpit. However, he was a pugnacious dogfighter whose solo missions sometimes got him into trouble. For instance, on 28 May 1917, he survived being Leutnant Karl Allmenröder's 21st victory. In July 1917 Scott was awarded the Military Cross: Scott was a flight commander on

No. 43 Squadron RFC Number 43 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Fighting Cocks'', was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in April 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It saw distinguished service during two world wars, producing numerous Flying ace, "ac ...

until 10 March 1917 when he took up command of

No. 60 Squadron RFC No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport. It is currently part of No. 1 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire flying the Airbus H135 Juno HT1. The squadron badge is a markhor's head and was a ...

. He remained as No. 60 Squadron's commander until 11 July 1917, the day after he was wounded in action. From some time in 1917 to 1918, Scott was the Commandant of the Central Flying School. Notably, Scott acted as Winston Churchill's flying instructor.

Later life

In 1920, Scott's book "Sixty Squadron RAF: A history of the squadron from its formation" was published.Search Results
/ref> Scott died on 16 January 1922 in London, England aged 38.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * ''Nieuport Aces of World War 1.'' Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2000. . * ''Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920.'' Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. .

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Alan 1883 births 1922 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Christchurch Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath New Zealand recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross New Zealand World War I flying aces Sussex Yeomanry officers People from Christchurch Alumni of the University of Oxford