Captain Herbert George Hegarty (31 October 1885 – 1953) was an Irish 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 eight aerial victories.

Early life and education

Hegarty was born in

Clonbur ''An Fhairche'' (locally ''An Fháirthí''), or Clonbur in English, is a Gaeltacht village in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. The village of Clonbur sits between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. Two kilometres to the west rises Mount Gable wher ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, and was educated at

Portora Royal School Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origina ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

. He then gained a position at the

Hongkong and Shanghai Bank The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly known as HSBC (), was the parent entity of the multinational HSBC banking group until 1991, and is now its Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific subsidiary. The largest bank in Hong ...

, based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He also served as a second lieutenant in the Hong Kong Artillery and Rifle Volunteer Corps from October 1911.

World War I

In 1917 Hegarty travelled from Hong Kong to England via North America. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) to serve in the

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

on 8 June, and was posted to No. 5 and No. 28 Training Squadrons between July and September, being confirmed in his rank on 8 September. In November 1917 Hegarty was posted to No. 60 Squadron RFC based at Sainte-Marie-Cappel, France, to fly a S.E.5a single-seat fighter. He gained his first aerial victory on 28 January 1918, driving down out of control 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 ...

fighter over

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. On 4 February he shared in the shooting down in flames of another D.V over

Zonnebeke Zonnebeke (; vls, Zunnebeke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of , , Passendale, Zandvoorde and Zonnebeke proper. On January 1, 2006, Zonnebeke had a total population of ...

, and destroyed two more on 18 and 30 March. On 14 May he destroyed an Albatros two-seater to gain his fifth victory and ace status. Early on 16 May 1918 he shared in the destruction of an LVG two-seater over

Fampoux Fampoux () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated east of Arras, on the D42 road. The A1 autoroute passes by the village about half a mile away. Population P ...

with American ace Lieutenant John Griffith, and later that day was recommended for 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 i ...

, which cited his six confirmed victories and mentions several other unconfirmed ones. His award was gazetted on 13 September, the citation reading: :Second Lieutenant Herbert George Hegarty, RAF. ::"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on offensive patrols. During recent operations he destroyed four enemy machines and drove down two. He is a bold and fearless pilot, and has done splendid work." Hegarty was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain on 13 June, and gained two more aerial victories on 30 June and 1 July. He was posted to the Home Establishment on 15 July 1918 to serve as an instructor at the No. 4 Fighting School at

RAF Freiston Royal Air Force Freiston or more simply RAF Freiston is a former Royal Air Force station located about east of Boston, Lincolnshire, which was in operation during the First World War. Station history In mid-1916, the Royal Naval Air Service ...

, Lincolnshire. Hegarty was transferred to the RAF's unemployed list on 6 February 1919.

List of aerial victories

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, George 1885 births 1953 deaths Military personnel from County Galway People educated at Portora Royal School Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Irish World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Irish officers of the Royal Flying Corps Irish officers of the Royal Air Force