John Everard Gurdon, (24 May 1898 – 14 April 1973), was a British

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 ...

in the First World War credited with twenty-eight victories.

Early life and background

Gurdon was born in Balham, Surrey, the son of John Gurdon and Mary Gray Rattray, and attended

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

in Kent. From September 1916 he attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

,Shores ''et.al.'' (1990), p.179. as a "Gentlemen Cadet", and after passing out (graduating), he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment on 1 May 1917.

First World War service

Gurdon was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917, and was confirmed in his rank of the General List on 10 August 1917. He completed his pilot training at

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

and was sent to No. 22 Squadron in 1918, flying

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 ...

Gurdon achieved all twenty-eight of his victories between 2 April and 13 August 1918 while flying the Bristol Fighter aircraft, seventeen of them using the front gun. On 7 May he was involved in an historic engagement known as the " Two versus Twenty". Gurdon, together with his observer 2nd Lt. John Thornton, in partnership with one other Bristol Fighter aircraft, piloted by Alfred Atkey with his observer Charles George Gass engaged twenty enemy aircraft. Gurdon and Thornton shot down three enemy aircraft; Atkey and Gass shot down five. As a result of this action he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 2 August. His citation read: :Lt. John Everard Gurdon. ::This officer is a brilliant fighting pilot who on all occasions shows great determination with entire disregard of personal danger. He has personally destroyed nine enemy machines. On a recent date when on offensive patrol with another Bristol fighter he attacked a formation of seven enemy machines; one of these he shot down in flames. The enemy were then reinforced by two other formations, which brought their number up to twenty. Fighting continued for about half an hour when the Bristols broke off the engagement, their ammunition being exhausted. Only seven enemy machines remained, many having been seen to spin away, and one was shot down by this officer. On 10 July his aircraft was badly shot up, Gurdon being hit by a bullet in the left arm, and his gunner, Lt. J. J. Scaramaga, being killed. He was appointed a flight commander with the rank of temporary captain on 23 July, but in August he received a concussion from an anti-aircraft shell near-miss. He was returned to the UK in September and relinquished his commission owing to his injuries on 21 December, but was permitted to retain the rank of captain. His confirmed claims, in conjunction with his gunners, consisted of 13 and one shared aircraft destroyed, and 14 driven down 'out of control'.

Interwar career

After the war Gurdon pursued a career as a journalist and author, publishing his first novel ''Over and Above'' in 1919, republished in 2018. He then translated Georg Paul Neumann's ''Die Deutschen Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege'', an official history, which was published in English as ''The German Air Force in the Great War'' in 1921. Another novel ''Feeding The Wind'' was published in 1924. However, in December 1925 he was declared bankrupt. and over the next fifteen years, to pay off his creditors, Gurdon wrote several novels, and numerous short stories, mainly adventure stories aimed at

young adults A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

, and published in such magazines as ''

The Modern Boy ''The Modern Boy'' (later ''Modern Boy'') was a British boys' magazine published between 1928 and 1939 by the Amalgamated Press. It ran to some 610 issues. It was first launched on 11 February 1928 and cost 2d (two old pence, when there were 24 ...

'' and ''Air Stories''. He finally gained his discharge from bankruptcy in late 1937, but continued to publish regularly up to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Second World War service

Despite being blinded in one eye after a car crash in 1935 and suffering a hip problem following an aircraft landing accident, Gurdon joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and was granted a commission "for the duration of hostilities" as a pilot officer (on probation) on 20 September 1940. He served as an instructor and managed to fly on several bombing operations unofficially as a front gunner on Wellingtons, but after a landing accident aggravated his existing hip problem he was forced to relinquish his commission on 29 September 1941.

Later life

He published two more novels in the early 1950s. John Gurdon died on 14 April 1973 in Alassio, Italy.

Personal life

Gurdon married Florence M. Pleming in 1920 at Kensington, London. They had three sons, John (known as Robin), Philip, and David. The eldest, Sergeant John Robert Gurdon, was killed in action in April 1943 flying Wellingtons of No. 166 Squadron. Philip Gurdon was a member of No. 273 Squadron, flying Spitfires in Burma.

Publications

;Translations * ;Novels * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Short stories and articles * "P.P.P.", ''Hutchinson's Adventure & Mystery Story Magazine'', October 1928 * "The Bottomless Gulf", ''

The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matter ...

'', 2 November 1929 * "The Schooling Bullet", '' The Strand'', February 1930 * "Softy", ''Flying Stories'', March 1930 * "The Sky Trackers", ''

'', 31 May 1930 * "The Devil that Flies by Night", ''The Modern Boy'', 7 June 1930 * "The Stolen Inventor", ''The Modern Boy'', 14 June 1930 * "The Flying Fish", ''The Modern Boy'', 21 June 1930 * "Black Pirates", ''The Modern Boy'', 28 June 1930 * "The Bat's Prisoners", ''The Modern Boy'', 5 July 1930 * "Thunder Over the Alps", ''The Modern Boy'', 12 July 1930 * "The Menace of the Bat", ''The Modern Boy'', 19 July 1930 * "The Sea-Hawk!", ''The Modern Boy'', 18 November 1933 * "The Flying Treasure!", ''The Modern Boy'', 25 November 1933 * "The Trickster Tricked!", ''The Modern Boy'', 2 December 1933 * "Death Flies Low", ''George Bruce's Squadron'', May 1934 * "Flight of a Lovebird", '' The (London) Evening News'', 20 February 1935 * "Early Bird", ''Popular Flying'', August 1935 * "The Dabu Devil", ''The Thriller'', 28 December 1935 * "A Private War", '' Argosy (UK)'', February 1936 * "Winged Warriors", ''Air Stories'', February 1936 * "Flash-Point", ''The (London) Evening News'', 4 March 1936 * "The Loop of Death", ''Air Stories'', May 1936 * "The Four Dumb Mouths", ''Air Stories'', June 1936 * "The Brotherhood of Sin", ''Air Stories'', July 1936 * "Spies Fly High", ''Air Stories'', November 1936 * "First Solo", ''The Modern Boy's Annual'', 1937 * "Striking a Bargain", ''The Modern Boy's Annual'', 1938 * "Leashed Lightning", ''

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

'', 1938 * "The Gentleman from Java", ''Air Stories'', February 1938 * "The Mammoth and the Midge", ''Air Stories'', September 1938 * "The Man Outside", ''

'', 1939 * "Flight to Hell", ''Air Stories'', October 1939 * "Alarums Aloft", ''The Modern Boy's Annual'', 1941

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurdon, John Everard 1898 births 1973 deaths People from Balham People educated at Tonbridge School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Suffolk Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) 20th-century English writers Writers from London 20th-century English male writers