Robert Samuel Herring (27 July 1897 – 11 September 1953) was a British officer who served in the Army and the Royal Air Force in both World Wars. In World War I he became a

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 ...

, and spent most of World War II as a prisoner of the Japanese.

World War I

Born in Hunstanton,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Herring enlisted into the 16th (County of London) Battalion (

Queen's Westminster Rifles The Queen's Westminsters were an infantry regiment of the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originally formed from Volunteer Force (Great Britain), Rifle Volunteer Corps, which were established after a Fre ...

), The London Regiment, part of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

, before the outbreak of the war, and was sent to France in November 1914 to fight on the Western Front. On 1 March 1917 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 20th Battalion, London Regiment, and then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in August, where he trained as an observer/gunner before being assigned to 48 Squadron, flying the

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 ...

, on 20 November 1917. Between January and March 1918 Herring shot down five enemy aircraft: *On 25 January Herring and his pilot Lieutenant Hugh William Elliott, were reconnoitring enemy positions over Sequehart when they were attacked by ''Leutnant''

Heinrich Kroll ''Oberleutnant'' Henrich Claudius Kroll (3 November 1894 – 21 February 1930) Pour le Merite, Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Saxony's Albert Order Knight Second Class with Swords, Iron Cross First and Second Class, was ...

, '' Staffelführer'' of

Jasta 24 Royal Saxon Jagdstaffel 24 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score 89 verified ae ...

, in 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''). ...

. Herring fired several machine gun bursts, until Kroll span away, and was forced to crash-land his damaged aircraft behind the German front lines. * On 28 January while over

Beaurevoir Beaurevoir is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The commu ...

on another reconnaissance mission, Herring and his pilot 2nd Lieutenant Frank Cecil Ransley, attacked a formation of four enemy aircraft, and saw one, a

Rumpler Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p.259 The fi ...

, spin out of control. * On 9 February, with 2nd Lieutenant Herbert Henry Hartley, he claimed 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 ...

shot down over

Guise Guise (; nl, Wieze) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains ...

. * On 16 March 1918, over

Bellicourt Bellicourt () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It lies on the N44 road between Cambrai and Saint-Quentin and over the principal tunnel of the St. Quentin Canal. It was the site of numerous inte ...

Bellenglise Bellenglise () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The village lies close to the N44, in a loop of the St. Quentin Canal, nine kilometres north of St. Quentin. History About two kilometres ...

with Lieutenant P. Burrows, he claimed another D.V and a DFW C. On 26 March Herring was severely wounded during a dogfight, and returned to England on 4 April. On 23 January 1919 he was injured again in a flying accident. As a result of his injuries Herring finally relinquished his commission on 15 July 1919.

World War II

Herring was commissioned as a pilot officer in the General Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 21 December 1941 and was stationed in the Far East. On 1 February 1942, during the Malayan Campaign, he was granted an Immediate Emergency Commission as a second lieutenant on the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

of the British Army, relinquishing his RAF commission, to serve as a company commander, with the rank of captain in

Dalforce Dalforce, or the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army (星華義勇軍; ''Xinghua Yi Yong Jun'') was an irregular forces/ guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. Its members ...

, the Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Battalion. He was captured by the Japanese at the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire o ...

on 15 February 1942. He was promoted to flying officer on 1 October 1942, but this was cancelled on 28 May 1943. While a prisoner in Changi he was promoted to the rank of major by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Barclay Holmes, commander of British and Australian troops in Changi. He was finally released after the Japanese surrender in August 1945.

Awards

On 22 June 1918 Herring 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 ...

. His citation read: :2nd Lt. Robert Samuel Herring, London Regiment and RFC. :For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He carried out a valuable reconnaissance under heavy fire from the ground, obtaining valuable information and engaging enemy troops with machine-gun fire with good effect. On another occasion, while on a photographic reconnaissance he was attacked by six enemy triplanes. He drove them all off after a hard fight and returned with his photographs. He has driven down four enemy machines out of control and has set a splendid example of determination and resource. Herring was also the recipient of the

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in No ...

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

and the Victory Medal after the end of World War One, and the 1939–45 Star,

Pacific Star The Pacific Star is a military campaign medal instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British and Commonwealth forces who served in the Pacific Campaign from 1941 to 1945, during the Second World War. One clasp, Burma, was ...

, and War Medal after World War Two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herring, Robert Samuel 1890s births 1973 deaths People from Hunstanton Queen's Westminsters soldiers Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Japan British Army General List officers Military personnel from Norfolk