Captain Herbert Frank Stacey Drewitt (25 March 1895 – 4 January 1927) was a New Zealand 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 seven aerial victories. He was one of the few Royal Army aces that used French-built Spads as his weapon.

World War I service

Drewitt, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, served originally in 23 Squadron. For his first kill, he used a

Spad VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

to shoot a German observation plane down in flames on 17 October 1917. Ten days later, he sent 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. He repeated the feat on 24 January 1918. On 11 March 1918, he switched mounts to a

Spad XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...

to defeat an observation plane. The following day saw him back in his Spad VII, as he destroyed an Albatros D.V. On both 15 and 16 March, he destroyed an enemy reconnaissance plane. Drewitt moved on to fly a

Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the World War I, First World War. The Dolphin entered se ...

for 79 Squadron, but never scored again.

Postwar

Drewitt died of illness in England on 5 January 1927.

Honors and awards

Military Cross (MC) 2nd Lt. (T./Capt.) Herbert Frank Stacey Drewitt, R.F.C., Spec. Res. "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He, with another pilot, persistently attacked a large body of hostile cavalry, with the result that great confusion was caused, many casualties inflicted, and the horses stampeded in all directions. On a later occasion he engaged with machine-gun fire from a low altitude two hostile field batteries which were shelling our infantry. He has destroyed in all six enemy machines and has brought down out of control six others. He has displayed exceptional skill and gallantry". (Supplement to the ''London Gazette'', 22 June 1918) (30761/7408)

Sources of information

References

''SPAD XII/XIII aces of World War I.'' Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2002. , 9781841763163. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drewitt, Herbert 1895 births 1927 deaths Royal Flying Corps officers Military personnel from Christchurch New Zealand World War I flying aces New Zealand recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) New Zealand recipients of the Military Cross