Wing Commander William Mayes Fry (14 November 1896 – 4 August 1992) was a World War I

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

and Royal Air Force

fighter 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 ...

. He was credited with eleven aerial victories, piloting no fewer than four different types of fighter aircraft. Fry also has the distinction of being one of the few World War I airmen to survive to the 1990s.

World War I

Fry joined the army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry on 10 June 1915. Later he trained as a pilot, receiving Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 3003 after flying a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military Flying School, Birmingham, on 24 May 1916, and on 16 June he was appointed a flying officer in the Royal Flying Corps, and transferred to 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 ...

. He first served in No. 12 Squadron, then No. 11 Squadron, flying

BE.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

s during 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 ...

,Guttman (2002), p. 22 and being promoted to lieutenant on 31 October 1916. His "C" Flight was then transferred to No. 60 Squadron,Guttman (2002), p. 22 where, flying a

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier N ...

, Fry scored his first win on 2 May 1917; two days later, he shared a victory with

Billy Bishop Air Marshal William Avery Bishop, (8 February 1894 – 11 September 1956) was a Canadian 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 com ...

. Further solo victories were gained on 13 and 19 May, and for his fifth, an Albatros D.III was driven down out of control on 16 June, shared with

Keith Caldwell Air Commodore Keith Logan "Grid" Caldwell CBE, MC, DFC & Bar (16 October 1895 – 28 November 1980) was a New Zealand fighter ace of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I who also rose to the rank of Air Commodore in the Royal New Zealand ...

. During this time, he also flew

Morane-Saulnier I The Morane-Saulnier I, also known as the Morane-Saulnier Type I was a French fighter of the 1910s. Essentially a modified Morane-Saulnier N, the Royal Flying Corps possessed a number of them in World War I. Development Largely on the advice of L ...

s, and one of his squadron-mates was Albert Ball. On 16 August 1917 Fry 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 ...

, his citation reading: :Temporary Second Lieutenant (Temporary Lieutenant) William Mayes Fry, General List and Royal Flying Corps. :For conspicuous gallantry and devotion duty. Diving to a very low altitude, and under heavy fire, he emptied all his ammunition into the retreating enemy. During the last month he has brought down four hostile machines. He has done consistent good work as a pilot. On 1 September 1917 he was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain, and was transferred to No. 23 Squadron to command "C" Flight. Flying a

SPAD VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

he gained wins on 20 November and 12 December 1917. He upgraded to a

SPAD XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...

for his next win, on 4 January 1918. Two days later, he was back in a SPAD VII, hunting in company with

Frank Granger Quigley Francis Granger Quigley, (10 July 1894 – 20 October 1918) was a Canadian aviator and flying ace of the First World War, who was credited with 33 aerial victories. He was notable for scoring the majority of his victories against German fighter ...

. They jointly shot down and killed '' Pour le Merite'' winner ''Leutnant'' Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp. Fry would score once more in a SPAD XIII, shooting down in flames an Albatros on 23 January. Fry then transferred to No. 79 Squadron, where he claimed his last victim, using a

Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the World War I, First World War. The Dolphin entered se ...

to down a

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 ...

on 11 May 1918. For his final tally, besides destroying the two enemy fighters in company with Bishop and Quigley and flaming the Albatros, Mays had destroyed two other enemy aircraft, captured one, and driven down four others.

Post-war

Fry remained in the Royal Air Force post-war, and on 16 September 1919 granted a short service commission with the rank of flight lieutenant, however this was later cancelled, and Fry was transferred to the unemployed list on 31 January 1920. Fry returned to the RAF within eighteen months, being granted a short service commission with the rank of flying officer on 18 July 1921, being promoted to flight lieutenant on 30 June 1923, and his commission was made permanent on 23 April 1924. On 10 September 1924 Fry was posted to No. 7 Squadron, based at RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk. From 4 December 1925 he served at the Station Headquarters of Bircham Newton, and on 2 March 1930 he was assigned to No. 99 Squadron, based at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire. Fry then served in Egypt, being posted to the Depot at

RAF Aboukir , nativename-r = Abu Qir , partof = , location = , nearest_town = Alexandria , country = Egypt , image = Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. ME(RAF)3514.jpg , alt = , caption = A Short Sunderland flying over ...

on 10 March 1931, then to No. 216 Squadron, based at Heliopolis, on 15 January 1932. On 1 May 1934 Fry left the RAF, being placed on the retired list at his own request. Fry returned to RAF service during World War II, serving from 1939 until 1945, rising to the rank of wing commander, and receiving a

mention in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 1 January 1945, before returning to the retired list on 15 July 1945, retaining the rank of wing commander. Fry died in Greenwich, London on 4 August 1992, aged 95.

Personal life

In July 1924 Fry became engaged to Katherine Mary Carrington, the daughter of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Frederick Carrington, , and the sister of

Dorothy Carrington Frederica Dorothy Violet Carrington, Lady Rose, MBE (6 June 1910 – 26 January 2002) was an expatriate British writer domiciled for over half her life in Corsica. She was one of the twentieth century's leading scholars on the island's culture an ...

. They were married in

Colesbourne Colesbourne is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village and parish lies within the Cotswolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is east-southeast from the city an ...

, Gloucestershire, on 20 August.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

Fry on 'Aces of World War 1' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, William Mayes 1896 births 1992 deaths People from Twickenham Somerset Light Infantry officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force personnel of World War II