Flight Lieutenant William Geoffrey Meggitt (8 April 1894 – 28 January 1927) 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.

World War I

Meggitt was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the 3rd Battalion,

Welsh Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

, on 31 March 1915, and was confirmed in his rank on 2 November. He was later seconded to the

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

, and was appointed a flying officer (

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in con ...

) on 28 October 1916. Posted to No. 25 Squadron RFC, flying the F.E.2b two-seater fighter Meggitt gained his first aerial victories on 22 October 1916, destroying two Type D aircraft, the first with Sergeant

William Drummond Matheson William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

early in the morning south-west of

Seclin Seclin () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Population Notable residents * Andre Ayew, Ghana national football team footballer *Victor Mollet, architect *Jonathan Roussel ...

, and another in the late afternoon north-west of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

with Second Lieutenant D. S. Johnson. On 17 November 1916 he took part in the destruction by fire of an enemy aircraft over Vitry, piloted by Captain R. Chadwick, and shared with Second Lieutenant H. Dunlop & Lieutenant Harry Scandrett, Second Lieutenant D. S. Johnson & Lieutenant I. Heald, Second Lieutenant H. L. Chadwick & Second Lieutenant C. J. Butler, Sergeant James Green & Corporal A. G. Bower. On 15 February 1917, with Captain Lancelot Richardson, he drove down out of control a Type C aircraft over

Avion Avion may refer to: * Avion, the French and Spanish name for airplane (powered fixed-wing aircraft); coming from Latin "avis" (bird). Same family as "aviation" ** Avion II and Avion III by Clément Ader * Avion (band) * Avion (car) * Avion, Pas-de ...

. Meggitt was transferred from the Special Reserve to Regular Army on 31 March 1917, and was also 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

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on 17 April 1917. His citation read: :2nd Lieutenant William Geoffrey Meggitt, Welsh Regiment, Special Reserve and Royal Flying Corps. ::"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty whilst one of a patrol engaging five hostile machines. He drove down one enemy machine and then attacked another, which was seen to go down vertically. He has previously brought down three hostile machines." He then trained as a pilot, and was appointed a flying officer on 8 June 1917. Promoted to lieutenant on 1 July, he was posted to No. 22 Squadron RFC, flying the two-seater Bristol Fighter. He gained his fifth aerial victory on 10 October, destroying 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

Moorslede Moorslede () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Dadizele, Slypskapelle and Moorslede proper. On 1 January 2006, Moorslede had a total population of 10,618. The total area is ...

with observer

Air Mechanic 1st Class The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Arch Whitehouse Arthur George Joseph "Arch" Whitehouse , M.M. was a World War I veteran and author of First World War aviation books. Biography Arthur George J. Whitehouse was born in England, but lived in Montvale, New Jersey, U.S.A. At the outbreak of World ...

. The next day, with Captain F. A. Durrad as his observer he drove down another D.V. Meggitt was shot down on 8 November 1917, and initially listed as

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

, but was eventually reported as being a prisoner of the Germans in early 1918.

Post World War I

Meggitt was repatriated following the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

, and on 1 August 1919 was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of lieutenant, resigning his commission in the Welsh Regiment the same day. On 2 January 1922, in the

1922 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1922 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 30 December 1921. The recipients of honours are displayed here ...

, Meggitt was promoted from flying officer to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. He evidently served for some time overseas, as on 22 September 1923 he was posted to the School of Photography for course in engineering at the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

on his transfer to the Home Establishment. He was posted to the RAF Depot on 1 September 1924, and on 6 September 1926 to the Station headquarters at

RAF Upavon Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former RAF station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993, ...

. Meggitt was attached to

No. 41 Squadron RAF No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...

on 28 January 1927 to undertake flight trial of

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III, J7171. Flying from Northolt to Kenley, he lost control during a gale and crashed in the garden of a house at 11 Beatrice Ave,

Norbury Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross. Etymology The name Norbury derives from ''North Burh'', (North Borough). Some local histories note tha ...

, London SW. He was removed from the aircraft unconscious but died of his injuries underway to Croydon General Hospital.

References

Bibliography

* Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory (2008). ''Above The War Fronts: A Complete Record of the British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918.'' Grub Street Publishing. , {{DEFAULTSORT:Meggit, William Geoffrey 1894 births 1927 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England British World War I flying aces British World War I prisoners of war Formerly missing people Missing in action of World War I People from Newport, Wales Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Flying Corps officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927 Welch Regiment officers World War I prisoners of war held by Germany