100 Years Ago Today in WWI Aviation History - August 22, 1914: First British aerial loss - Avro 504 (# 390) flown by Lieutenant V Waterfall, No. 5 Squadron on patrol over Belgium is shot down by German rifle fire. Other sources report a Sgt. Maj. D.S. Billings as the first British aviator wounded on this date (as part of this action?). This is apparently the first indication that the Germans have of the presence of the British forces. I am compelled however to put this in sobering perspective as 27,000 French soldiers are killed on this single day in an offensive thrust to the east of Paris, towards the German borders. photo: from rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/a-few-of-the-first-the-rfc-august-1914/ and is of Avro 504 from the same series as #390
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:13:09 +0000
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