Captain William George Sellar Curphey (1895 – 15 May 1917) was a British World War I

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 six aerial victories.

Early life and entry into military

Curphey was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Mr. and Mrs. William Salvador Curphey, who at the time of his death were residing at 87 Canfield Gardens,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, Middlesex, England; the elder William Curphey was a civil servant. The younger William Curphey was educated at Glasgow Academy, at University College School, Hampstead, and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He belonged to the Officers' Training Corps at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

.Franks & Giblin (2003), p. 23.

Military career

Professional advancement

Curphey enlisted into the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) in the early days of World War I. His commission as temporary

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in that regiment was gazetted 16 November 1914. A promotion to temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

followed on 1 June 1915. On 15 July 1916, Curphey was transferred from the Berkshires to the General List of the

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

. He was advanced from

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

to flight commander with an accompanying promotion to temporary captain on 8 January 1917.

Aerial success

Curphey was one of the original pilots of 32 Squadron, which was posted with its

Airco DH.2 The Airco DH.2 was a single-seat pusher biplane fighter aircraft which operated during the First World War. It was the second pusher design by aeronautical engineer Geoffrey de Havilland for Airco, based on his earlier DH.1 two-seater. The d ...

s to the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in France on 28 May 1916. He scored six wins between 22 August 1916 and 7 February 1917; one of them was shared with fellow ace James Robb. On 4 February, he suffered a slight head wound and was forced to land by Leutnant Erwin Böhme; this was Böhme's tenth victory.Shores ''et.al.'' (1997), p. 130.

Death in combat

On 14 May 1917, Curphey was one of a trio of patrollers who attacked three German observation balloons. Six Albatros fighters then attacked them. An Albatros on Curphey's tail became Saint Cyprian Tayler's second victim. Curphey was then shot down by Leutnant

Franz Walz Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

as the German ace's seventh victory. Curphey's plane was 20 feet from a crashlanding when it burst into flames. He died of the resulting burns the following day, in a German

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

in Bouchain. At the time of his death, Curphey had a promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

pending; the new rank would have removed him from flight status.

Honours and awards

;Military Cross :Temporary Lieutenant William George Sellar Curphey, General List and RFC. :For conspicuous skill and gallantry. He brought down an enemy machine, and two days later attacked and brought down another. He has frequently attacked formations of hostile aircraft and driven them down. ;Bar to the Military Cross :Temporary Lieutenant (Temporary Captain) William George Sellar Curphey, MC, General List and RFC. :For conspicuous gallantry in action. He, with a patrol of four machines attacked a hostile formation of ten machines. After a prolonged fight he drove one enemy machine down. Later, although wounded, he again led another attack on a hostile machine and succeeded in bringing it down. He has on many previous occasions done fine work.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curphey, William 1895 births 1917 deaths Military personnel from Glasgow People educated at the Glasgow Academy People educated at University College School Alumni of King's College London Royal Berkshire Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Scottish flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down British Army personnel of World War I