Captain Ian Patrick Robert Napier (24 June 1895 – 9 May 1977) was a Scottish 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.

Biography

Early life

Ian Napier was born in

Milton, West Dunbartonshire Milton (historically Milton of Colquhoun) is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies about east of Dumbarton, on the A82 Glasgow-Loch Lomond road and below the Overtoun Bridge. It previously had a primary school, closed in 2004. ...

, Scotland, one of three children born to

Henry Melville Napier Henry Melvill Napier (2 May 1854 – 18 December 1940) was a Scottish rugby union international who represented Scotland in the 1876–77 Home Nations rugby union matches, 1877–78 Home Nations rugby union matches, 1878–79 Home Nations ru ...

(1854–1940), engineer, shipbuilder, and founder of Napier & Miller Co. Ltd.

Entry into military service

On 2 September 1914, Napier was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 9th (The Dumbartonshire) Battalion,

Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) , colors = , colors_label = , march = "The 8th Hussars" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles ...

. On 8 July 1915, he was appointed an aide-de-camp, finally returning to his regiment on 8 February 1916, and being promoted to lieutenant the next day.

Aerial service

Napier was awarded

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

Aviator's Certificate No. 3269 after soloing a

B.E.2c The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establis ...

biplane at the Military School,

Hounslow Heath Hounslow Heath is a local nature reserve in the London Borough of Hounslow and at a point borders Richmond upon Thames. The public open space, which covers , is all that remains of the historic Hounslow Heath which covered more than . The prese ...

, on 18 July. On 4 August, he was seconded to the

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

and appointed a flying officer.

Napier was assigned to No. 40 Squadron RFC as a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

pilot. He scored his first victory on 14 April 1917, by destroying an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service (''Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). T ...

. His second win came ten days later, when he helped

Robert A. Little Robert Alexander Little, (19 July 1895 – 27 May 1918), a World War I fighter pilot, is generally regarded as the most successful Australian flying ace, with an official tally of forty-seven victories. Born in Victoria (Aus ...

capture a

DFW C.V The DFW C.IV, DFW C.V, DFW C.VI, and DFW F37 were a family of German reconnaissance aircraft first used in 1916 in World War I. They were conventionally configured biplanes with unequal-span unstaggered wings and seating for the pilot and observer ...

. On 22 May 1917, Napier was promoted to captain in his regiment with seniority from 1 June 1916, but this did not apply to the RFC, and he remained a lieutenant until 5 June 1917, when he was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain. Napier resumed his victory list after upgrading to a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a. On 6 March 1918, he destroyed 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 ...

. A month later, he scored again. He then accumulated victories until 4 July 1918, when he scored his twelfth. His final tally was seven German planes destroyed (including two shared wins), three driven down out of control (one of which was shared), and two shared captures of DFW D.Vs.

Postwar life

Napier then served as a liaison officer with the French Army, until on 18 April 1919, he was transferred to the unemployed list of the RAF. On 7 December 1920 he relinquished his RAF commission to return to the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(probably the Highlanders). Eventually, he went into the family shipbuilding business.

Personal life

In 1927 Napier married Frieda Lewis, the daughter of

Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron Essendon Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron Essendon (1870–1944), known as Sir Frederick Lewis, Bt, between 1918 and 1932, was a British shipping magnate. Biography Frederick Lewis was born in 1870 in Witton Park. In 1883, aged 13, he joined Furness Withy & Co ...

and Daisy Ellen Harrison, and they had one child, Major Andrew Patrick Forbes Napier.

Awards and citations

;Military Cross :Captain Ian Patrick Robert Napier, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and Royal Air Force. ::"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer has carried out many reconnaissances, and flying at low altitudes has engaged massed enemy troops with bombs and machine-gun fire, inflicting heavy casualties. He has brought down seven enemy machines." ;Croix de Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur :Awarded on 17 December 1917.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, Ian 1895 births 1977 deaths People from West Dunbartonshire Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Scottish flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur