Lieutenant Henry Coyle Rath
DFC was a Canadian World War I
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 twelve aerial victories.
Early life
Henry Coyle Rath was born on 12 November 1898 to Maggie and Thomas Rath. Henry Rath was born in
Hastings, Ontario
Hastings is a community within the municipality of Trent Hills, Northumberland County, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Trans Canada Trail in what is considered to be Ontario's "cottage co ...
, Canada. He was working as a hardware clerk in
Tweed, Ontario
Tweed is a municipality located in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, in Hastings County.
History
The Municipality of Tweed is an amalgamated municipality comprising the former Village of Tweed and the former Hungerford Township and former Elzevi ...
prior to his enlistment in the military.
[
]
Flying service
Rath joined the Royal Flying Corps in September 1917. He was assigned to 29 Squadron on 5 June 1918 as a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a pilot.Robert Holme
Flight Lieutenant Robert Charles Lyon Holme (10 November 1896 – 4 October 1922) was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.
Biography
Holme was the only son of Robert Francis Lyon Holme, and the grandson of Char ...
drive down a German two-seater reconnaissance plane out of control. Three days later, they again cooperated, destroying a similar plane; Rath also drove down a third recon plane in the same dogfight. After driving down a fourth recce craft on 1 August, Rath became an ace on 8 August. In conjunction with fellow aces Claude Melnot Wilson, Arthur Reed, and a couple of other pilots, Rath destroyed a Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
reconnaissance craft.[
During the remainder of August, he destroyed three more enemy airplanes and drove two down out of control. On 14 October 1918, apparently in the same combat that resulted in Wilson's death, Rath destroyed two ]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 ...
s, bringing his tally to seven enemy planes destroyed and five driven down out of battle. On 26 October, Rath collided with another pilot from the same squadron while they were flying at 12,000 feet over Tournai.[ Both pilots died, though MacLean lingered for a day before succumbing to injuries.][ Rath was buried in Grave VC.8 in the Tournai cemetery.
]
Honours and awards
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
Lieut. Henry Coyle Rath. (FRANCE)
A bold and resolute fighter in the air who has six enemy aeroplanes to his credit. On 14 October he, with three other machines, engaged a large number of enemy scouts; five were shot down, Lieut. Rath destroying two.[The London Gazette, 7 February 1919, p. 2045]
Retrieved 23 February 2010.
Sources of information
References
* Norman Franks, Franks, Norman ''SE 5/5a Aces of World War I''. Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2007. , 9781846031809.
*
1898 births
1918 deaths
Canadian World War I flying aces
{{wwi-air