Captain Harold Ross Eycott-Martin (2 January 1897 – date of death unknown) was a British pilot in the First World War. He began and ended his military career in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. While seconded for duty with the Royal Air Force, he would win 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 ...

in the well-known air action in Italy in which

Alan Jerrard Alan Jerrard, VC (3 December 1897 – 14 May 1968) was an English aviator and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. An officer of the S ...

won his

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. Eycott-Martin would end the war as 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 ...

credited with eight aerial victories. In the aftermath of the war, he would fall into disgrace. After being declared bankrupt, he would desert the Engineers and be ejected from the army.

Early life

Harold Ross Eycott-Martin was born in

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

, London.''1901 England Census''''1911 England Census'' He was the eldest son. His father was a civil servant in Bechuanaland. His mother's home residence in England was

Lindfield, West Sussex Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with lim ...

, near Haywards Heath.

World War I

Eycott-Martin was commissioned on 27 October 1915, at the age of 18, as a second lieutenant in the

from the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. After being seconded to the

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

, he was appointed a flying officer on 29 March 1917. In May 1917, he was posted to 41 Squadron in northern France. A week after joining the squadron, he crashed a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.8 during takeoff.Shores ''et.al.'' (1997), p.150. On 24 May 1917, ''Flight'' Newsletter reported Eycott-Martin had wounded, but no date was given for the wounding. It seems likely he was injured in the takeoff accident. On 1 July 1917, Eycott-Martin was promoted to lieutenant in his home unit, the Royal Engineers. On 7 February 1918, he was reassigned to 66 Squadron in Italy. In short order, he won his first two aerial victories. Then, on 30 March 1918, he and

were wingmen to Peter Carpenter on the well-known occasion when Jerrard won his

. In that same action, Eycott-Martin was credited with two victories; on 5 April 1918, he was subsequently awarded a

for his role in this combat. Eycott-Martin's victory string culminated at eight on 22 June 1918. On 13 July, he was temporarily promoted to captain; he almost certainly simultaneously became a flight commander. Eycott-Martin's MC was finally

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. His citation read: :Lt. Harold Ross Eycott-Martin, R.E., R.A.F. :For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. In a patrol with two other machines he attacked nineteen of the enemy. Of the six enemy aircraft destroyed on this occasion he destroyed two. On two other occasions he destroyed an enemy machine.

Post World War I

Eycott-Martin remained in the Royal Air Force post-war, but had a turbulent career. On 17 January 1919, he reverted from temporary captain back to lieutenant. From 27 January to 30 April, he was re-employed as a temporary captain. On 27 June 1919, he was re-rated from lieutenant (Ad.) to lieutenant (A.) On 14 October 1919, he gave up his commission in the Royal Air Force; however, he retained his commission in the Royal Engineers. In the midst of this career turmoil, on 10 April 1919, it was announced that he was engaged to marry Muriel Horner. They were married at the parish church of

St George Hanover Square St George Hanover Square was a civil parish created in 1724 in the Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, which was later part of the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St George's, Hanove ...

on 12 June 1919. On 14 May 1920, Harold Ross Eycott-Martin—mistakenly characterised as still an RAF officer—was reported as residing at 9 Trebovir Road,

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, London, as well as the Maiden Head Hotel,

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

, Sussex. This information was contained in a declaration of bankruptcy. On 10 May 1920, he arrived at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

aboard the ''Philadelphia''. On 5 August 1920, Lieutenant Eycott-Martin was removed from the rolls of the Royal Engineers for being

absent without leave Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which a ...

. He then disappeared into the mists of history.

References

;Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eycott-Martin, Harold Ross 1897 births Royal Air Force officers Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War I Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Date of death missing People from Upper Norwood Royal Engineers officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force personnel of World War I People from Lindfield, West Sussex