Captain Ronald Frank Strickland Mauduit (30 October 1895 – 13 March 1928) was a British cavalry officer and

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 ...

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 nine aerial victories.

Early life

Mauduit was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Rowley Metcalfe de Rittich Mauduit, of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, and his wife Annie Maude. He was born at

Ellichpur Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur and Illychpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the second most populous city in Amravati District after Amravati and seventh most populous c ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, on 30 October 1895. He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

from 1908 to 1912, before going up to 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 infantry a ...

in 1913.

First World War

Mauduit was a cadet at Sandhurst when the European War broke out. On 15 August 1914 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards The 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for Princess Charlotte in 1788. ...

. On 17 May 1915 he was promoted to temporary lieutenant; he was confirmed in this rank on 9 August. After completing his flying training he was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No. 4271 on 24 February 1917, after flying the L & P Biplane at the London & Provincial School at

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

. On 25 April he was seconded to

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

as a lieutenant, and posted to No. 11 Squadron to fly the

Bristol F.2 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 ''"Biff"'' ...

two-seater fighter. His victory string began on 12 July 1917 when he, with observer Lieutenant E. R. Dibbs, drove down out of control 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 Pelves. He and Dibbs repeated the feat on 20 July over Novelles. On 14 August he forced down another D.V over

Brebières Brebières is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography This farming and light industrial town is located 12 miles (19 km) east of Arras on the N50 road, at the junction with th ...

with Corporal

Jack Mason John Richard Mason (26 March 1874 – 15 October 1958), known as Jack Mason, was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1893 and 1914, captaining the team between 1898 and 1902. He play ...

, and another over Dury on 10 September with observer Lieutenant C. C. Dennis. On 17 October he gained a double victory over the

Sensée Canal The Canal de la Sensée () is a canal in northern France. The project was developed under Napoleon. In March 1806, the imperial government gave orders to build a canal which would link the Scarpe River and the Escaut River ( en, Scheldt). The wo ...

–

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

, driving down two more D.Vs with observer Lieutenant Leslie McRobert. Finally, on 21 October, Mauduit was paired with Corporal Mason again when he accounted for three more D.Vs over Boiry–

Lécluse Lécluse () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Geography The river Sensée flows through Lécluse. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department ...

, driving down one, destroying a second, and shooting down the third in flames. On 12 December 1917, he was appointed a flight commander with the rank of temporary captain. On 4 February 1918 Mauduit was awarded 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 i ...

, 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 July. His citation read: :Lieutenant Ronald Frank Strickland Mauduit, Dragoon Guards and Royal Flying Corps. ::"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He carried out a most valuable single machine reconnaissance at a height of 500 feet, searching enemy roads and railways and obtaining important information. On another occasion, while on a photographic reconnaissance, he encountered twenty hostile scouts and drove down two of them out of control. He has destroyed ten enemy machines, and shown the greatest determination at his work."

Post-war

After the war Mauduit returned to his cavalry regiment, the

7th Dragoon Guards The 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for Princess Charlotte in 1788. ...

, in which he was promoted to captain on 20 November 1919. Sometime during July, August, or September 1919, he married Irene Helen Brooksbank at

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...

, Yorkshire, England. When his regiment was amalgamated with the

4th Dragoon Guards The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers. It was renamed as the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards in 1788 and service for two centuries, incl ...

to form the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards in late 1922, Mauduit was transferred into the new regiment at the rank of captain with seniority from 20 November 1919. On 14 October 1924 Mauduit was seconded to serve at the Cavalry Depot, finally returning to his regiment on 3 June 1927. He died on 13 March 1928 as the result of an accident while playing

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauduit, Ronald 1895 births 1928 deaths People from Amravati district People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst 7th Dragoon Guards officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Polo deaths British people in colonial India