Captain Herbert Edward Oscar Ellis (15 July 1893 – date of death unknown) was an English World War I
flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. On 4 May 1917, after running out of machine gun ammunition, he scored his third victory of the day with pistol fire.
Military service
Ellis was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the
Corps of Royal Engineers on 16 March 1915. He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 May 1916, and was awarded the
Military Cross on 18 August 1916, his citation reading:
:Temporary Second Lieutenant Herbert Edward Oscar Ellis, Royal Engineers.
:For conspicuous gallantry and ability when organising the communications for an attack, and later for keeping them up under a heavy bombardment during the operations.
He was transferred to the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
, receiving Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 3829 after flying a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military Flying School, Birmingham, on 2 November 1916,
and was appointed a flying officer on 7 February 1917.
Posted to
No. 40 Squadron flying the
Nieuport Scout
The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier ...
, Ellis scored four victories during
Bloody April 1917, on the 13th, 23rd, 26th, and 28th.
On 4 May 1917, he engaged three
Albatros D.III fighters over
Douai. One he shot down at 500 feet, and sent a second into a crash-landing, but the third got on his tail even as Ellis ran out of machine gun ammunition. He managed to drop below it and emptied his
service pistol into it. It fell into a sideslip that tore off its bottom wing, then plunged into a pond. Ellis' final tally was six enemy planes destroyed, and one driven down out of control. Two days after this triple triumph, Ellis was injured in a crash which ended his career as a fighter pilot.
Ellis remained in the RFC, but lost his flying officer status on 19 September 1917, being appointed an Equipment Officer, 3rd class. He was promoted to Experimental Officer, 2nd class (graded as an Equipment Officer, 2nd class) on 1 January 1918, and was promoted to captain in the Technical Branch on 1 April 1918, the same day that the RFC was merged with the
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
to form the Royal Air Force.
Ellis finally left the RAF, being transferred to the unemployed list on 15 February 1919.
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Herbert
1893 births
Year of death missing
People from Hoxton
Royal Engineers officers
Royal Flying Corps officers
British World War I flying aces
Recipients of the Military Cross