Flight Lieutenant Norman Miers MacGregor (29 May 1896 – 1981) 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 seven aerial victories, including over German ace Kurt Wolff.

Military service

MacGregor entered the RNAS as a probationary flight sub-lieutenant (temporary), assigned to , on 12 February 1916, and was commissioned as a flight sub-lieutenant, with seniority from 12 February, on 25 July. Assigned to No. 6 (Naval) Squadron in France, flying the

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

, MacGregor gained his first aerial victory on 28 June 1917 when he and Flight Sub-Lieutenant F. C. Winter destroyed a DFW Type C reconnaissance aircraft. On 17 August MacGregor, alongside Flight Commander Bruno De Roeper and Flight Sub-Lieutenant R. E. Carroll, were credited with driving down out of control an

Aviatik Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen (today in France) in 1909 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft. It relocated to Freiburg in ...

Type C reconnaissance aircraft east of

Westende Westende is a town in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It lies on the Belgian coast, also called the Flemish coast. It used to be the far west (West-ende: Dutch for west-end) of the islan ...

. MacGregor and De Roeper drove down 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 ...

over

Moere Moere is a small village located within the municipality of Gistel in West Flanders, Belgium. The village gained some fame when American singer Marvin Gaye moved there for several months in the early 1980s. During his stay, the singer composed h ...

on 20 August, and on the 22nd MacGregor destroyed 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''). ...

solo north of St. Pierre Chapelle. MacGregor then transferred to No. 10 (Naval) Squadron, where on 15 September 1917 in a dogfight over

Moorslede Moorslede () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Dadizele, Slypskapelle and Moorslede proper. On 1 January 2006, Moorslede had a total population of 10,618. The total area is ...

with aircraft from ''

Jasta 11 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 11 ("No 11 Fighter Squadron"; commonly abbreviated to Jasta 11) was founded on 28 September 1916 from elements of 4 Armee's “Kampfeinsitzer” or KEKs) 1, 2 and 3 and mobilized on 11 October as part of the Germ ...

'' he shot down the first

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

of the war, killing the pilot Kurt Wolff. He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 2 October, and on 10 December he and Flight Sub-Lieutenant J. G. Clark destroyed an

over

Oostnieuwkerke Oostnieuwkerke is a Belgian village in the province of West Flanders. It is part of the municipality of Staden. There are more than 3400 inhabitants and Oostnieuwkerke lies closer to the town Roeselare than it is to the main village Staden. The l ...

. In February 1918 MacGregor was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His citation read: :Flight Lieutenant (Acting Flight Commander) Norman Miers MacGregor, RNAS. ::"In recognition of his skill and courage in aerial combats. On the 12th December 1917, whilst leading his flight on an offensive sweep, he encountered a body of six Albatross scouts at 14,000 feet. In the general fight which ensued he attacked a scout which was engaging one of our machines and drove it down out of control, and it was seen to crash. Act. Flt.-Cdr. Macgregor has destroyed several enemy machines and has led his flight with great dash and judgment." On 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force, and No. 10 (Naval) Squadron became

No. 210 Squadron RAF ("Hovering in the Heavens")Halley 1988, p. 274. , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= Western Front, 1916–18 Ypres 1917 Lys Atlantic 1939–45 A ...

. A few months later, on 12 August, MacGregor gained his seventh and final victory by driving down another Albatros D.V east of

Diksmuide (; french: Dixmude, ; vls, Diksmude) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of proper and the former communes of Beerst, Esen, Kaaskerke, Keiem, Lampernisse, Leke, N ...

. MacGregor was transferred to RAF's unemployed list on 10 January 1919 at the rank of captain. However, he was temporarily restored to the active list as a flight lieutenant on 10 April 1921, serving until 5 June.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgregor, Norman 1896 births 1981 deaths People from Chiswick Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)