Reginald Alexander John Warneford, VC (15 October 1891 – 17 June 1915), also known as Rex Warneford, was a British aviator and Royal Naval Air Service officer who received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for air-bombing a

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

. It was the first victory of a heavier-than-air aircraft over a lighter-than-air dirigible.

Early life

Warneford was born in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, India, the son of an engineer on the Indian Railways. He was brought to England as a small boy and educated at

King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon The Grammar School of King Edward VI at Stratford-upon-Avon (commonly referred to as King Edward VI School or shortened to K.E.S.) is a grammar school and academy in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, traditionally for boys only. Howeve ...

but after his family returned to India he continued his education at the English College,

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, th ...

. Following

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

ship in the Merchant Marine, Warneford joined the

British-India Steam Navigation Company British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. History The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading part ...

. At the outbreak of the

, he was in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

awaiting return to India. Instead, he sailed then to Britain, joining the 24th (Service) Battalion (2nd Sportsman's),

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

but soon transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service for pilot training.O'Connor 2005, p. 26.

Service

Warneford's initial training took place at Hendon, passing then to

Upavon Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...

where he completed his pilot training on 25 February 1915. During the course of training, the Commander of Naval Air Stations, R. M. Groves was quoted as saying: "This youngster will either do big things or kill himself." Warneford's flying instructor at the time,

Warren Merriam A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

, noted his skills as a pilot but had to make special arrangements to ensure that Warneford's perceived over-confidence did not bar him from attaining a commission. Merriam took an opportunity whilst Commander Groves was visiting Hendon to ask Warneford to demonstrate his flying skills. Groves' favourable impression overcame the views of the Squadron Commander at the time who believed that Warneford would never make an officer because of his lack of discipline. Warneford was initially posted to 2

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

on the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derive ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

but was quickly (7 May 1915) posted to an operational unit with 1 Wing at

Veurne Veurne (; french: Furnes, italic=no, ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper an ...

on the Belgian coast. Over the next few weeks, Warneford was involved in attacks on German troops and guns, as well as actions against enemy aircraft. His aggressiveness and effectiveness led to his being given his own aircraft and a

roving commission A roving commission details the duties of a commissioned officer or other official whose responsibilities are neither geographically nor functionally limited. Where an individual in an official position is given more freedom than would regularly be ...

.O'Connor 2005, p. 27. On 17 May 1915, Warneford encountered a ''Deutsches Heer''-flown

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

, LZ 39, setting out on a raid over the UK. He attacked LZ 39 with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

fire but the airship was able to ascend out of range by jettisoning ballast. The Great Aerial Exploit of Lieut Warneford

On 7 June 1915 at

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, Belgium, Warneford, flying a

Morane-Saulnier Type L The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a s ...

, attacked another German Army airship, LZ 37. He chased the airship from the coast near

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

and, despite its defensive machine-gun fire, succeeded in dropping his six

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

bombs on it, the last of which set the airship on fire. LZ 37 subsequently crashed in

Sint-Amandsberg Sint-Amandsberg is a sub-municipality of Ghent, Belgium. The municipality was formed in 1872 after splitting from Oostakker. It is served by the Bus and train station of Gent Dampoort on the Ghent Antwerp NMBS/SNCB line. During the First Wor ...

(),

. It crashed into a convent school, killing two nuns. The commander of LZ 37, Oberleutnant , and seven members of the crew were killed. The explosion overturned Warneford's aircraft and stopped its engine. Having no alternative, Warneford had to land behind enemy lines, but after 35 minutes spent on repairs, he managed to restart the engine just as the Germans realized what was going on, and after yelling "Give my regards to the Kaiser!", he was able to achieve lift off and returned to base. On 17 June 1915, Warneford received the award of

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

from the French Army Commander in Chief, General Joffre. Following a celebratory lunch, Warneford travelled to the aerodrome at Buc in order to ferry an aircraft for delivery to the RNAS at Veurne. Having made one short test flight, he then flew a second flight, carrying an American journalist, Henry Beach Needham, as passenger. During a climb to 200 feet, the righthand wings collapsed leading to a catastrophic failure of the airframe. Accounts suggest that neither occupant was harnessed and were both thrown out of the aircraft, suffering fatal injuries. For Needham, death was instantaneous. Warneford died of his injuries on the way to hospital. He was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London on 21 June 1915 in a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners. The grave lies in front of the eastern colonnade. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

, Somerset, England. A street in Ghent was named ''Reginald Warnefordstreet'' on the spot where the airship crashed. In 2016 he had a road named in his memory, Warneford Crescent in Longhedge,

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 ...

Wareneford was commemorated in music by Howard Ellis Carr in the final movement of his ''Three Heroes'' suite, which includes a musical depiction of a Zeppelin air raid. The suite became popular after the war, and was performed quite regularly, including at Hastings in 1921 and at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 1918, 1920 and 1924.''The Musical Times'', Vol. 62, No. 937 (March 1921), p. 169
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Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * Gibson, Mary. ''Warneford, VC: The First Naval Airmen to Be Awarded the VC''. Fleet Air Arm Museum for the Society of Friends of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, 1979 (republished in 1984). * Harvey, David. ''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

'': Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials. Vol.1, 1854–1916''. Kevin & Kay Patience, 1999. * Merriam, F. W. ''First Through the Clouds: The Autobiography of a Box-kite Pioneer''. Batsford, 1954. * * *

External links