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Henry Allingham
| Henry Allingham (deceased) Henry Allingham is the oldest surviving veteran of World War One, Britains oldest living man, and the second oldest living man in the world. He is the last survivor of the Royal Naval Air Service, and served as a seaplane mechanic on HMS Kingfisher during the Battle of Jutland, of which he is the last survivor. He saw service on the Western Front in France, serving as an aircraft mechanic with 12 Squadron RNAS, and instrumented the first reconnaissance camera fitted to an aircraft during WW1. The RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps merged on 1st April 1918 to become the Royal Air Force, and he is the last surviving founding member of that illustrious service. Sadly, Henry Allingham died aged 113 on 18th July 2009. |
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The Biff Boys by Robert Taylor. On the morning of 30th November 1917, Lieutenant Andrew McKeever, a Canadian serving with 11 Squadron RFC, together with his observer/gunner Lieutenant Leslie Powell, climbed into their Bristol F2b Fighter and took off alone; their task to fly a solo reconnaissance patrol over Cambrai, where the decisive battle involving tanks for the first time in history was raging on the ground below - it was to prove a remarkable day. As they flew over the enemys lines they encountered a pair of German two seater observer aircraft, protected by no fewer than seven enemy Albatross DV scouts. Armed with a forward firing .303 Vickers machine gun and a ring mounted Lewis gun in the back seat, McKeever skilfully manoeuvred his aircraft to engage one of the enemy scouts, and destroyed it. As he turned to get back to the Allied lines, five of the remaining enemy Albatross fighters dived on his tail, but Lt Powell rapidly downed two of them in quick succession with deadly fire from his Lewis gun. Continuing the duel with the remaining Germans, McKeever managed to destroy a further Albatross when suddenly his observers Lewis gun jammed. The pair seemed doomed, however McKeever, showing great courage and initiative, feigned disaster by rolling his aircraft over, plummeting it towards the ground. Fooled by the manoeuvre, the German aircraft climbed away, and McKeever levelled out just twenty feet above the ground and flew back to safety. Remarkably, all of McKeevers thirty one victories were achieved at the controls of the Bristol F2b Fighter, making him the highest scoring ace with 11 Squadron, and of any pilot flying two seater aircraft during the First World War. |
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