Charles George Gass, MC (18 April 1898 – March 1977) was the highest scoring

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

during the

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 ...

, with a total of 39 victories (16 solo) scored serving as a gunner flying with various pilots. After working in the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

between the wars, he was recalled to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in early 1940.

Early life and First World War

Gass was born in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, on 18 April 1898. He originally joined the 2/24th Battalion, London Regiment, of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

and became a sergeant, the rank he held when he first entered a theatre of war on 25 June 1916.

Copies of these medal cards are also available from

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(subscription required), only these copies show the additional details on the reverse of the card. He was then commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 17th Battalion, London Regiment, and was attached to the

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

from 1917. On 26 March 1918, he was assigned to No. 22 Squadron as an

Bristol F.2b The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...

s, flying in France. The two-seater "Brisfit" had a maximum speed of 123 mph, which made it as fast as or faster than most enemy fighters, and was manoeuvrable to boot. It had a forward-pointing

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

for the pilot, and one or two Lewis machine guns that could be slid around on their

Scarff ring The Scarff ring was a type of machine gun mounting developed during the First World War by Warrant Officer (Gunner) F. W. Scarff of the Admiralty Air Department for use on two-seater aircraft. The mount incorporated bungee cord suspension in eleva ...

mount by the observer/gunner to cover a wide field of fire.

Aerial victories

Gass soon showed his proficiency with the Lewis guns. He began by driving an

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 ...

down out of control on 22 April 1918. Then he began one of the most spectacular months in First World War aerial warfare. On 7 May, Gass was gunner on a Bristol piloted by ace

Alfred Atkey Alfred Clayburn Atkey, (16 August 1894 – 14 February 1971) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 38 aerial victories, making him the fifth highest scoring Canadian ace. However, all those above him flew in singl ...

; Gass was in Atkey's plane by Atkey's request. They flew one of two Brisfits that took on 20 German scouts. Gass and Atkey destroyed five of the attackers, sending two of them down in burning meteors of falling wreckage. Gass claimed another German on 8 May while teamed with

John Everard Gurdon John Everard Gurdon, (24 May 1898 – 14 April 1973), was a British flying ace in the First World War credited with twenty-eight victories. Early life and background Gurdon was born in Balham, Surrey, the son of John Gurdon and Mary Gray Rat ...

. Then on the 9th, he and Atkey repeated themselves. Once again they flamed two Germans; additionally, they destroyed another German and drove two down out of the battle. They then reeled off a series of multiple victory days. Two on the 15th; three on the 19th; three more on the 20th; two each on the 22nd, 30th, and 31st; three on the 27th. Gass had scored 28 times in the month, all but one in conjunction with Atkey. No one in the First World War scored more victories in a single month. He officially transferred to the nascent

on 22 May 1918. Gass and Atkey scored another double on 2 June, which were Atkey's final victories. Then Gass was teamed with Lieutenant Edwin Bromley, and scored twice on the 5th. On 26 July, he shot down another German while teamed with Lieutenant Samuel Thompson. In August, Gass was teamed with Lieutenant

, who had been the pilot of the other Brisfit on 7 May. They tallied five wins together, with the last coming on 13 August. Gass was transferred for pilot training soon after, but the war ended before he qualified for his wings. Gass's final tally totalled 39. Broken down, they amounted to 5 destroyed in flames, including one victory which was shared with other planes; 12 others destroyed; 22 down "out of control". It was the sort of performance that had garnered multiple decorations for single-seat fighter pilots. For Gass, it brought a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 16 September 1918, the citation read: Gass received his MC from

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 16 November 1918.

Interwar period

Gass ceased to be actively employed by the RAF on 11 April 1919, and relinquished his Territorial commission in 17th Battalion, London Regiment on 30 September 1921. He lived in South London after the war, the address given for despatch of his

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a hig ...

s was 95 Flood Street, Chelsea. He married Geraldine Marie Insani in the

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

registration district in the second quarter of 1921. He joined the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

on 27 June 1922. He joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on 30 March 1925, and was promoted flying officer on 6 May. He left the reserve on 30 September 1928. His wife petitioned for divorce in 1934. They had had two sons, Geoffrey in 1922 and Donald in 1924.

Second World War and after

With the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

escalating, Gass was recommissioned as a

in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch,

RAF Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) ...

(RAFVR), on 8 January 1940. He was promoted war substantive flying officer on 7 September, and confirmed in that rank on 8 January 1941. He was later promoted

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 ...

and, on 1 January 1944, temporary squadron leader. He remarried, to Kathleen Fitzgerald, in the first quarter of 1944. He retired from the RAFVR on 10 August 1954, retaining the rank of squadron leader.

Notes

References

* ''Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I''. Jon Guttman, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2007. , .

External links

The Aerodrome
lists his aerial victories and contains his photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:Gass, Charles George British World War I flying aces 1898 births Recipients of the Military Cross London Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers People from Chelsea, London Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II 1977 deaths Royal Air Force squadron leaders Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War I