RFC spots German army, first RFC combat loss, experiments in armament

23 August 1914

RFC scouts reveal German army poised to flank

Yesterday, a British pilot and his observer of Number 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps—Captain Lionel Charlton and Lieutenant Vivian Walham—reported spotting the German 1st Army under General von Kluck deploying to flank the British Expeditionary Force near Charleroi. Notwithstanding that this intelligence contradicted that available via more traditional channels, the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir John French, has taken the aviators’ report seriously and has ordered a retreat towards Mons. With the German forces outnumbering the British two-to-one in both men and guns, the utility of the aeroplane as a platform for reconnaissance has indisputably proved itself.

Captain Lionel Charlton

British lose first aeroplane and airmen in combat

Also yesterday, an Avro 504 (serial number 390) from Number 5 Squadron RFC became the first British aeroplane brought down by enemy action. Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall and his observer, Lieutenant Charles Bayly were performing a reconnaissance mission over Enghien-Marcq when they came under rifle fire from a column of German troops. Both men, aged 23, lost their lives. Hauptmann Walter Bloem, commanding Grenadier-Regiment Prinz Karl von Preußen (2. Brandenburgisches) Nr.12 recalls:

Plötzlich Alarm: ein feindlicher Flieger! Diesmal stimmt’s: die blauweißroten Ringe sind fast mit bloßem Auge zu erkennen. Ich bestimme zwei Gruppen, gebe den Feuerbefehl. Und schon knattert’s überall auf. Der Lüftekreiser dreht ab, will nach Süden entwischen. Zu spät: er steht auf einmal schräge, dreht sich zwei-, dreimal um sich selber, stürzt ab, schon ein paar Kilometer von unserm Scheitelpunkt entfernt. Jubelgebrüll.
Nach einer Weile preschen drei rheinische Husaren vorüber, schreien, sie hätten das abgestürzte Flugzeug auf einer Wiese gefunden.
„Und der Führer? Der Beobachter?“
„Die sinn Mus, Herr Hauptmann.“

Suddenly, alarm: an enemy aeroplane! This time it’s true: the blue-white-red rings are almost visible to the naked eye. I designate two groups, give the firing order. And already rattles are all around. The aircraft veers off, wants to escape to the south. Too late: he is already off-balance, corkscrews two or three times, plummets a few kilometres from our position. Cheering breaks out.
After a while, three Rhenish Hussars tear over, shouting that they had found the crashed plane on a field.
“And the pilot? The observer?”
“They are mush, Captain.”

Lt Vincent Waterfall
No.5 Sqn, RFC

Lt Charles Bayly
No.5 Sqn, RFC

Lt Bayly’s interrupted log of the mission

Experiments with armament

In other news of Number 5 Squadron RFC, Lieutenant Louis Strange and Lieutenant Leslie Penn-Gaskell have been tackling the problem of affixing armament to an aeroplane. Over the last week, they have created a solution in the form of a mount for a Lewis gun in the observer’s cockpit of a Farman HF.20 (serial number 341).

Today, they put their idea to the test, pursuing a German reconnaissance plane that overflew 5 Sqn’s airfield at Bailleul. The attempt showed Strange and Penn-Gaskell a very practical limitation to the concept. The extra weight of the gun and its ammunition prevented the Farman from climbing higher than 3,500 feet (1,100 m), and thus the German was easily able to escape at a higher altitude. The partners are apparently putting aside this idea for now, and in future, Penn-Gaskell is to carry a rifle with him instead.

Lt Louis Strange
No.5 Sqn RFC

Zeppelin patrols continue

Yesterday morning saw the safe return of German army Zeppelins Z IV and Z V after more scouting in East Prussia. Z IV overflew Cumbinnen and Lager, and Z V overflew Modlin.