Captain Duncan William Grinnell-Milne (6 August 1896 – November 1973) was an English First World War
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
credited with six confirmed aerial victories, a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
who escaped from German captivity, a
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 ...
, and an author.
Initially serving with the 7th Battalion,
Royal Fusiliers, he was seconded to the
Royal Flying Corps before joining 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) an ...
.
Early life and background
He was the second son of George Grinnell-Milne (1853–1931), a merchant banker, and Maria Caroline Mess (1862–1942) who were married in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in 1882.
He was educated at
Cheam School and the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
.
World War I
Grinnell-Milne was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the 5th Battalion,
Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Ri ...
on 13 December 1913 at the age of 17. On the outbreak of World War I he was considered too young for front-line service, so in an effort to evade this restriction, on 12 December 1914 he transferred to the 7th Battalion,
Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
The regiment served in many wars ...
. However, he was soon seconded to the
Royal Flying Corps for flying training, and on 17 August 1915 was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 1609 following a flight in a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military Flying School at
Shoreham. He was confirmed in his rank of second lieutenant on 7 September, and two days later was appointed a flying officer.
Grinnell-Milne was promoted to lieutenant on 29 September 1915, and posted to No. 16 Squadron RFC, where on 28 November, flying a
BE.2c, he shot down an
Albatros C.I
The Albatros C.I, (post-war company designations L.6 & L.7), was the first of the successful C-series of two-seat general-purpose biplanes built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke during World War I. Based on the unarmed Albatros B.II, the C.I reversed ...
over
Sequedin. Only days later, on 1 December, he was forced down behind the German lines and captured.
He was listed as "missing" on 2 December, eventually being reported a prisoner of war in early January 1916.
Grinnell-Milne spent over two years as a prisoner of war before he finally escaped in April 1918,
making his way from Germany to The Netherlands and was briefly interned before returning to England, where on 16 May he was presented to 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 Qu ...
at Buckingham Palace.
Grinnell-Milne eventually returned to aerial combat with No. 56 Squadron RAF, flying the
S.E.5a.
On 5 October he destroyed a balloon south-west of
Busigny
Busigny () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Busigny station has rail connections to Douai, Paris, Lille, Maubeuge and Saint-Quentin.
Population
Heraldry
See also
*Communes of the Nord department
The following is a ...
.
On 21 October he was appointed a
flight commander with the rank of acting-captain, and celebrated by destroying 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 qui ...
north of
Bousies the same day. He destroyed and drove down two more D.VII's over the
Mormal Woods on 29 October, and destroyed his fifth and final aircraft, another D.VII, on 3 November north-east of
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...
.
A week later
the armistice brought the fighting to an end.
On 17 December
Grinnell-Milne took command of No. 56 Squadron, remaining with it until it was reduced to
cadre status, flying his red-painted S.E.5a, named ''Schweinhund'', for the last time on 23 January 1919. In February 1919 his award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was
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 ...
.
Between the wars
In 1919 and 1920, Grinnell-Milne served with No. 214 Squadron and No. 14 Squadron in Egypt.
He was appointed an acting-captain on 1 May 1919, and on 30 May his award of a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted. On 1 August he was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of lieutenant. On 16 December 1920 he was awarded the
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 ...
"in recognition of gallantry in escaping from captivity while
prisoner of war", and on 1 January 1921 he was promoted to
flight lieutenant.
Grinnell-Milne then served as a test pilot at
Royal Aircraft Establishment at
Farnborough,
and in June 1922 took part in the third "RAF Aerial Pageant" at
Hendon, where he and Flight Lieutenant
P. W. S. Bulman flew two
S.E. 5a's in a demonstration of combat tactics against a
Airco DH.10 Amiens twin-engined bomber flown by Squadron Leader
Roderic M. Hill. On 14 April 1923 he was appointed an
attaché
In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...
in the Air Section of the British Delegation in Paris. On 20 February 1925 he was posted to No. 19 Squadron at
RAF Duxford
Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the civil parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village. The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Mus ...
, but on 14 April was placed on
half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.
Past usage United Kingdom
In the En ...
, and on 14 October placed on the retired list at his own request. During his career Grinnell-Milne had flown 60 different aircraft types and had amassed over 2,000 flying hours.
After leaving the RAF he worked as an art dealer in New York, and also as an author, publishing two autobiographical works; ''An Escaper's Log'' (1926), detailing his time as a prisoner in Germany, and ''Wind in the Wires'' (1933) about his flying career, as well as several novels. Later he worked as a broadcaster for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
He returned to military service prior to World War II, being commissioned as a
on 25 April 1939. On 17 June 1940, following Marshal
, stating Britain's determination to continue the fight, and encouraging them to do the same in
. Grinnell-Milne was also appointed the British liaison officer to the Commander-in-Chief of the French Air Force
, and equipped with portable radio transmitter, call-signs and codes. Grinnell-Milne drove to Bordeaux, then to GHQ French Air Forces at
. There Vuillemin regretfully informed him that he had begun the process of transferring men and aircraft to North Africa, but had now received orders to halt all movements. Grinnell-Milne found most of the senior staff officers were either resigned to their fate, obstructive, or openly hostile, though he noted that many of the younger officers and men were eager to leave for England. He left France late on 18 June aboard . Once back in London he was appointed liaison officer to Free French General
, remaining with him for the next four months, and taking part in the battles of
. He was promoted to
on 3 August 1941. Grinnell-Milne was invalided out of the RAF (technically he resigned his commission), retaining his rank of flying officer on 20 July 1944. Thereafter he rejoined the BBC, remaining there until 1946.
Grinnell-Milne settled in London and became a professional writer, mainly of history and biography.
Grinnell-Milne was married three times. In May 1921 he became engaged to Frances Warrington La Lanne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dale La Lanne of
and they were married on 17 September 1921.
was born on 13 January 1925.
They divorced in 1927. He married Blanca de Undurraga y Sandiford, daughter of Don Julio de Undurraga, which also ended in divorce, and he finally married Pauline Alice Margaret Lemieux, daughter of Dr. Louis-Joseph Lemieux (Canadian Member of Legislative Assembly for
), on 26 May 1932.