Lieutenant James Cromwell Bush (1 March 1891 – 7 October 1917) was a British

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 six aerial victories.

Biography

Bush was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, the eldest son of the Reverend Herbert Cromwell Bush, vicar of Seend, Wiltshire, and a grandson of General Reynell Taylor. He was a descendant of the regicide

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

. After attending

Fritham Fritham is a small village in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north of the New Forest, near the Wiltshire border. It is in the civil parish of Bramshaw. History The name Fritham may be derived from Old English meaning a cultivated plot (''ha ...

and St. Edward's Schools, he spent some time in Ceylon and India. He was commissioned into the 5th (Service) Battalion, The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) as a temporary second lieutenant on 22 September 1914. Sent to Gallipoli in 1915, Bush was of the few survivors of his battalion from Suvla Bay, afterwards receiving a

mention in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

from General Sir Ian Hamilton, and also the award of 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 ...

. Bush was invalided home in late 1915. On 25 February 1916 he was appointed an aide-de-camp, transferred to the General List, and sent to Egypt. On 22 August 1916 he was replaced as ADC, and 18 December 1916 was commissioned into the

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 1 ...

with the rank of lieutenant. On 24 April 1917 Bush was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps. He was posted to 22 Squadron as a pilot of a two-seater

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

. For his first two victories on 12 August 1917, he teamed with Carleton Clement to set one

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 ...

aflame and send another down out of control. He went to score four more triumphs, the final one coming on 2 October 1917 (For three-but not his final flight-his observer was

Arch Whitehouse Arthur George Joseph "Arch" Whitehouse , M.M. was a World War I veteran and author of First World War aviation books. Biography Arthur George J. Whitehouse was born in England, but lived in Montvale, New Jersey, U.S.A. At the outbreak of Worl ...

). Five days later, he and his observer fell under the guns of German ace Hans von Häbler. Initially reported missing, he was confirmed as dead by a message dropped from a German aircraft. He is commemorated on the War Memorial at

Neuville-en-Ferrain Neuville-en-Ferrain () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of ...

Communal Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, James 1891 births 1917 deaths People from Salisbury People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford Wiltshire Regiment officers Dorset Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces British military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Wiltshire