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NEIL
LEYBOURNE SMITH'S
HISTORY
OF 3 SQUADRON, AFC, RAAF ©
(First published as a Video-History
© 1989)
Author’s note:
My father, Lieutenant James Leybourne (Lee) Smith, was a
pilot with 3 Squadron, A.F.C, during World War I before re-enlisting for the duration of World War
II from 1939
and 1945, to serve as a Wing Commander in the
RAAF at RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria.
During his six month operational duty in 1918, he flew
113 patrols over France and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross before
ground fire shattered his ankle and forced him to make a crash landing on 10
August 1918 in his
RE8 (C2275) 
which he’d christened "Pyancus"
and which had a representation of this mythical creation painted on its fuselage. He spent the remaining few
months of war in hospital and, consequently, went through the rest of his life
with a gamy leg until his death in 1973 at the age of 80.
In the
early 1940s in particular when I was just a lad, whenever
he'd read or hear about the squadron's outstanding work with the Desert Air
Force, he'd often recall and recount incidents to me about the squadron's
history and in recent years it occurred to me that other children and
grandchildren of 3 Squadron members may like to know more about how and where
their fathers and grandfathers, uncles and cousins sacrificed the prime years of
their young lives, during the two world wars in particular, and the dangers they
lived with every day during the years they served.
So, with the invaluable assistance of several dedicated 3
Squadron World War II veterans and by reference to selected books written about
both wars and the squadron in particular, I’ve created this chronological
history especially for the families of 3 Squadron members and squadron fans ...
Many of the visual supports are old and sometimes tattered
and faded black and white photos or extracted from films loaned to me by ex-squadron members from
their personal souvenirs ... others are official war photos.
But, in all, I hope they will collectively recount for you
the history of Australia's most distinguished air force squadron.
PREFACE:
On Friday, l9th September 1986, the airmen and airwomen of
3 Squadron proudly received a new Squadron Standard at their Base in
Williamtown, NSW, Australia.
This event reinforced the quite extraordinary phenomenon
that has continually surrounded 3 Squadron for eighty seven years ... and that
is the existence of a particularly strong emotional bond that connects
everyone who has ever been associated with the magnificent and unique history
of Australia's most distinguished Air Force Squadron.
Many of the squadron's battle honours had never been recorded on
the old Standard, so it was retired to the Chapel at Point Cook in accordance
with tradition; leaving the new Colours to display, for all to see at the
squadron's present Headquarters, an embroided precis of the most important
events in the Squadron's life. Each location has a story you'll be proud to
share - stories true to the squadron's motto: "OPERTA APERTA", which
means: "SECRETS REVEALED".
Today, 3 Squadron’s personnel are custodians of much more
than the squadron's heritage. They're in control of the most sophisticated
aircraft in Australia ... entrusted to the squadron as a favoured protector of
the nation.
Their service life is in strong contrast to that
of their predecessors simply because the technical expertise now involved in
flying, ground-supporting and administering the squadron's latest FA/18 (Hornet)
fighters is completely different from the day-to-day operational life of past
years. As well, in those days gone by, the squadron was predominately at war and
it used aircraft, equipment and methods now considered to be quite primitive by
comparison.
Those dramatic contrasts over so many years need to be
recorded for posterity as should the fact that the squadron is unique in
Australian history being the squadron which has served the nation for the
greatest number of years as a unit of both the A.F.C. and the subsequently
formed R.A.A.F.
Firstly we look at those early pioneering Australian Flying
Corps years …
PART 1 : WW I
(began on 4 August 1914 and ended on 11 November1918)
Picture of the 3 Squadron "7th Reinforcements", from
the Harold Edwards Collection
Our story begins with 18 officers and 230 airmen who had
been assembled at the Australian Imperial Forces camp next to the Central
Flying School at Point Cook in Victoria, Australia. It was September, 1916 and
already the War in Europe had been raging for almost two years. The men were a
mixture; some were Army men who'd completed instruction courses at either
Central Flying School or Wireless School. Many were civilians with previous
flying experience. But they'd all volunteered to fight overseas with this
newly formed Squadron, which at this embryonic stage had been designated to be
2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps simply because it was the second Squadron
to be formed in Australia.
On the 25th of October 1916, after only minimum basic
training, these young men - most in their early twenties - sailed on the S.S.
Ulysses from Port Melbourne bound for England to complete their training.
After
travelling around the Cape and through Durban and Freetown, the Ulysses convoy
was delayed because of enemy submarines. It finally took nine weeks for the
Squadron to reach Devonport, England. Christmas 1916 was spent on board but New
Year's Day, 1917 saw the Squadron settling in at an aerodrome in South Carlton,
near Lincoln where they were to spend the next eight months learning how to fly
aircraft, operate as a reconnaissance squadron and practice the principles of
aerial combat.
HMAT A9 "Shropshire", from the
Harold Edwards Collection
As soon as they arrived they
were told that the Squadron was to be called 69 Australian Squadron, Royal
Flying Corps but three months later, this was changed by War Office Memorandum
dated 31st March, 1917, to 69 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps and it first
fought in France under that designation until, on the 20th of January 1918, the
Squadron officially became 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps.
At South Carlton, and at the Training Schools at Reading
and Oxford where some of the Squadron's non-commissioned ranks were
transferred to train as Commissioned pilots, rotary engine pusher type
biplanes were
used for flying training.
Grahame-White Boxkites were one of the earlier types used.
These extraordinary combinations of wires, struts and fabric were powered by 50
horse power Gnome engines which gave a top speed of 50 miles per hour.
Other training aircraft used were the Maurice Farman Longhorn
with its obtrusive front elevator, and its successor which, being blessed with
short landing skids, was called the Shorthorn. Most student pilots complained
... saying that not only were these ugly looking aircraft named after cows, they
flew like them as well! They were made with wooden struts with wire bracing and
fabric covering and the pupil sat behind the instructor in the nacelle mounted
on the lower wing. The biplane was powered by a 70 horse-power Renault pusher
engine and had a top speed of 59 miles per hour. The obvious difference between
the Longhorn and the Shorthorn was, of course, the shape and length of the
protruding outrigger landing skids although later model Shorthorns were fitted
with Renault engines generating an extra 10 horse-power to give them a top speed
of 70 miles per hour. The Shorthorn was called the "Rumpety" by
student pilots because of the rumbling noise it made while travelling over the
ground. But all student pilots were still required to complete at least six
30-minute dual instruction flights in these types of trainers before they were
allowed to fly solo.
Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b, picture from
the Harold Edwards Collection
After that they had to fly a minimum of 5 hours solo in more
difficult to handle Avro 504's, aircraft which almost all Australian, British
and Canadian World War 1 pilots at some time or other, flew during their
training.
This was an aeroplane with a long and respectable pedigree. The
particular model of the two-seater biplane which many 3 Squadron personnel flew,
was the 504K ... the 12th model developed by the A. V. Roe Aircraft Company since
1907. Different types of engines were fitted but the fastest was the 130
horse-power Clerget engine which gave the aeroplane a top speed of 95 miles per
hour at a higher than usual service ceiling of over 16,000 feet.
In those days, a pilot was sometimes awarded his wings after
only 12 hours solo flying but usually 20 hours were required plus the successful
completion of some special tests such as making a few landings at unfamiliar
aerodromes while on long distance cross country flights ... flying to high
altitudes before gliding from 6,000 feet with the engine switched off to touch
down inside a marked 50 yard circle ... a couple of night landings with only
flares for a landing guide ... bomb dropping ... aerial photography ...
signalling ... machine gunnery ... artillery observation ... formation flying
and, of course, air combat practice.
At 3 Squadron’s base in South Carlton and at some of the
Training Schools, instruction was also given in flying other types of aircraft
including the well known, but not always loved, BE2E.
Originally
intended for reconnaissance with the observer sitting in the front cockpit and
the pilot in the back, it could only fly at about 80 miles per hour at 6,000 feet
making it too slow and vulnerable for combat ... at least that was the joint
opinions of No. 1 Squadron who were using them in Egypt and several R.A.F.
Squadrons using them in France. Nevertheless, a few BE2Es were used by 3
Squadron for both training and practice at their own airfield but luckily, the
Squadron wasn't allocated these underpowered, under-armed and unmanoeuvrable
aircraft for their coming Front Line operations.
Instead, during June and July 1917,
they were issued with the Royal Aircraft Factory's latest and greatest
creations: the "RE8". Nick-named "Harry Tates" after a
popular musical artist of the time, they became the Squadron's main
operational aircraft for the next 17 months and until the War was almost over.
The letters "RE" stood for "Reconnaissance
Experimental" and the "8" represented the eighth of the model
designs. Only a few models in the "RE" series were produced from
the time the model RE1 was manufactured in limited numbers in 1913 until
this new RE8 was designed.
It was the first British two-seater production aircraft
to place the observer in the rear cockpit so he could get a clear shot at
any pursuing enemy while the pilot in front flew the aeroplane and shot at
any enemy in the flight path with the fixed portside Vickers machine gun,
synchronised to avoid hitting the rotating propeller blades.
Many of the pilots in the 18 RFC and AFC Squadrons who used
the 4,077 RE8s manufactured during the war were wary of them at first because
they seemed to be prone to go into spins and the petrol tank’s location
behind the engine often caused fire in a crash. But 3 Squadron quickly learnt
to rig and balance them correctly as stability was essential for flying
photographic missions.
The Royal Aircraft Factory's 150 horse power
"Stationery Tractor" engine reliably propelled the RE8 at a maximum
speed of 102 miles per hour with an endurance range of 4 & 1/4 hours
allowing a longer flying range than any other reconnaissance aeroplane being
used on either side during the War.
While it would climb at 65 miles per hour, it was
considered difficult
to manoeuvre. But it was sturdy with a solid frame.
But compared with other British reconnaissance aircraft, its
13,500 feet ceiling height was 2nd only to a
Bristol Fighter, the F2B, known
as the "Brisfit". Excellent for reconnaissance, it could fly at 123 miles
per hour at 4,000 feet if fitted with the usual 275 horse power Rolls Royce
engine. It climbed fast to 20,000 feet and performed so well that it was
used more as a
Fighter and a Bomber than a reconnaissance aircraft. A flight of these very
popular aircraft was eventually attached to 3 Squadron but not until the
last few months of the war.
On the 17th of August, 1917, an advance party consisting
of 73 mechanics and 57 vehicles were called upon to carry out orders from
the 23rd Wing, Royal Flying Corps, to move the Squadron to France. They
arrived in Rouen and quickly began preparing for the arrival of the
Squadron's 18 RE8s which were to fly from South Carlton four days later on
the 21st. Unfortunately only 17 aircraft arrived, as one went down on the
way, killing the pilot and its passenger-mechanic.
By the 4th of September, 1917, the Squadron had
travelled
north-east from Rouen for almost 100 miles, to Savy, about 8 miles from
Arras and this is where they were to remain for the next two months. Thus, 3
Squadron (although, at that time, they were still called 69 Squadron,
Australian Flying Corps) became part of 1st Wing, 1st Brigade, R.F.C.
and so became the very first Australian Squadron to go into combat on the
Western Front.
The Squadron's first taste of operations was to act as a
support force to 5 and 16 Squadrons R.F.C. who were also part of 1st
Wing. Their support duties involved the Squadron in 12 inconclusive air
combats while they were carrying out 142 artillery patrols and pin-pointing 11
enemy batteries for destruction by artillery. In those early days, the
Squadron used rather primitive but nevertheless effective air observation
techniques to direct army artillery fire onto targets. Each operation would
start with RE8s patrolling designated areas of enemy territory.
Often they'd
be subjected to heavy ground-fire or be under attack from enemy aircraft while
they carried out these patrols but the RE8 observers would still mark their
maps with the exact locations of any enemy gun emplacements they'd sight and,
as soon as their RE8s landed, they'd give these maps to the Squadron Recording
Officer who'd immediately send them by dispatch rider, to the Army Artillery
Staff. Certain targets would be selected for destruction according to the
needs of the Army's constantly changing battle plans.
RE8s would then be sent back over these targets to
photograph them using one or both of the cameras fixed by the ground crew to
the aircraft. One of these cameras was vertically mounted under the observer's
seat while the other was fitted under the wing and connected to the cockpit
with a Bowden wire control that was used to remotely expose and change the
photographic plates. This wing camera was used to take oblique photos of
ground contours and installations generally while the vertical camera was used
to take overhead photos.
Back at the aerodrome, the plate-negatives would be
immediately developed by the Squadron's Photographic Section which consisted
of as many as 14 photographic personnel who'd sometimes work all night to
print, on busy days, many hundreds of photos. An image in the form of a
clock-dial would be superimposed over some of these developed prints locating
the target dead centre on the clock-dial with the 12 o'clock position pointing
true north. Circles at radial distances representing 10, 25, 50, 100, 200,
300, 400 and 500 yards from the target were lettered Y,Z,A,B,C,D,E and F
respectively. Copies of these "clock code" photographs were then
dispatched to nearby Army Artillery Batteries as well as to the RE8 crew
assigned to carry out the Artillery ranging.
After take off, the RE8 would wait for the Battery to lay
out a giant white linoleum-formed letter "L" on the ground to
signify the Battery was ready to commence firing. The RE8'd then cruise at
about 85 miles per hour towards the target area and, using the Standard
Sterling Transmitter in the RE8 with its 120 foot long trailing aerial, they'd
key, in Morse Code, the letter "G" to let the Battery know they
could let "go" with their salvo.
On the ground, near each Battery location, a Wireless
Operator would receive the RE8s signal on his crystal detector receiver
using a "cat's whisker" tuner, headphones and an aerial pole
about 30 feet high. Incidentally, the "cat’s whisker" had to be
continually re-tuned to the point on the crystal which gave the best signal
reception because, as the shoot progressed, the receiver would be constantly
jolted by the concussion from the Battery's guns and the enemy’s
counter-bombardment.
Nevertheless, the RE8s signals, relayed to the Battery,
would start each salvo and the RE8s job was to note where each salvo fell in
relation to the clock-face on the photograph and to then signal the Battery
with the clock-code-letter designating the distance the salvo fell short of
the target. Of course, the Battery would keep correcting its aim, always
trying to hit the target, while the RE8 would continue to fly in large circles
between the Battery and the target to report changing circumstances.
On 8th November 1917, the Squadron successfully completed
its first bombing mission. The six RE8s of "A" Flight were armed
with 40 pound phosphorus bombs for laying a protective smoke screen against
enemy interference while the six RE8s in "B" Flight, loaded with 20
pound Cooper Bombs, and "C" Flight's six with 112 pounders, were
bombing enemy positions in the village of Neuvireuil.
Four days later, on the 12th November, the Squadron
again moved north, this time to Bailleul near the Belgian border where they
were to remain until a few days before the end of March, 1918.
The RFC had two Squadrons based nearby ... 53 which
operated their RE8s in conjunction with 9th Corps and 19 Squadron who,
with their Spads, were a Scout Squadron. By then, 3 Squadron's strength
consisted of 45 Officers and 278 Airmen including almost 100 wireless
operators.
Everybody quickly settled down to their work as the
"Corps Squadron" for the 1st Anzac Corps and, by 6th December, in
spite of bad weather, Captain W. H. Anderson's observer,
Lieutenant J. R.
Bell shot down the Squadron's first enemy aircraft, a D.F.W. two-seater.
An
extraordinary incident happened on the 17th December 1917 when an RE8 piloted
by Lieutenant James Sandy with his observer, Sergeant Henry Hughes, was
ranging artillery fire for the 8 inch Howitzers of the 151st Siege Battery.
35
minutes after they'd started, they were attacked by 6 Albatros D.5a Scouts.
Lieutenant Sandy fought them off and, before long, he'd brought one down close
to Armentieres. About then, two other 3 Squadron RE8s who happened to be
nearby, came to Sandy's assistance. Within a few minutes, the remaining enemy
aircraft broke off the fight and headed for their own lines. In itself, this
wasn't unusual because German pilots generally held great respect for the RE8
with the pilot's propeller-synchronised Vickers machine gun and the observer's
Lewis gun to defend the rear.
After the enemy aircraft had left, both of the other RE8s
clearly saw that Sandy's RE8 ... number A 3816, with the unmistakable letter
"B" on the fuselage ... was flying straight and steady as they
waved a farewell and flew off to resume their own assignments. However,
Sandy's wireless messages directing the Artillery Battery had ceased
transmission. By nightfall, A 3816 had not returned to the aerodrome.
On the following night, a telegram from Number 12
Stationery Hospital at St. Pol told of finding the bodies of the two airmen in
their grounded RE8 in a neighbouring field. A postmortem of the bodies and an
examination of the RE8 showed that both pilot and observer had been killed in
aerial combat and that the RE8 had flown itself around in wide left-hand
circles until its petrol ran out.
What
had happened was that a single enemy armour-piercing bullet had passed through
the observer's left lung and thence into the base of the pilot's skull. The
RE8 came down 50 miles south west of the battle scene out of skies that hadn't
seen any other aerial combat that day. It had crash-landed without further
injuring the bodies of the airmen and with the throttle still wide open. The
aircraft itself was not badly damaged in spite of its uncontrolled 50 mile
flight and this, in itself, was a classic example of the stability and flying
qualities of the RE8.
An unexploded German 100kg aerial bomb, picture from the
Harold Edwards Collection
Twice in that December, the aerodrome at Bailleul was
attacked by German Gotha bombers who dropped
250-pound bombs from about 8,500 feet but they failed to damage the
aerodrome.
A Sopwith Camel from the RFC's 65 Squadron brought down one
of the Gothas and that was about all the excitement that the Squadron were to
experience during the months that followed because of the irregular weather
which, at times turned into gales and snowstorms and stopped all air activity
in the area. Heavy bombardment from enemy batteries on the Bailleul area made
life even harder. It was during one of these barrages when the weather was at
its worst, that a letter was received saying the Squadron was no longer to be
called 69 Squadron but 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. The date was the
20th of January, 1918 and thus 3 Squadron was officially christened.
February through to March involved the Squadron in many
photographic missions around the Armentieres area where fighting was intense.
Some flights were assigned to drop propaganda leaflets over enemy rest camps
well behind the front line. Their purpose was to unsettle the enemy by letting
them know that good food and warm billets awaited them if they choose to
surrender. However these missions were discontinued after it became known
throughout the Corps that pilots brought down in enemy territory while
dropping leaflets were treated brutally by the enemy.
Crashed RE8, picture from the
Harold Edwards Collection
By the 22nd of March, the enemy shelling had risen to
such a pitch that the Squadron could no longer operate out of
Bailleul.
That afternoon, they moved to Abeele and the very next
morning a direct hit by a 14 inch shell on the vacated officers' quarters
killed one and wounded two of the clean up squad still working there. Had this
happened 24 hours earlier, perhaps a dozen or more pilots or observers could
have been killed or at least badly injured in their quarters.
It turned out that their stay at Abeele was to be a short
but busy 15 days and for the ground crew, quite exciting because it was there
they had a rare opportunity to see one of their RE8 crews in a dog fight with
a German DFW almost over the aerodrome. The RE8 out-flew and out-shot the DFW
and eventually brought it down only a few miles from where they stood
watching.
3 Squadron left the Armentieres-Ypres Front with the honour
of being the top Squadron in the 2nd Wing, Royal Flying Corps, having located
and reported the greatest number of enemy artillery positions in the Wing and
assisted in the greatest number of Artillery Ranging missions as well.
They moved south on the 6th April, 1918 to a hot-spot in
the War ... the Somme Front. Already, 8 other Squadrons were fighting there
when 3 Squadron took up their
position as part of 15th Wing, Royal Air Force, in an open airfield near
Poulainville.
They quickly started work carrying out reconnaissance
missions for the Australian Corps to locate enemy batteries and, using the
"zone call" system, direct our own artillery fire onto the enemy
positions.
The area was well defended by the Germans on the ground and
in the air. The famed "Richthofen's Circus" of Fokker Drl Triplanes,
which were part of the crack German Jagdgeschwader 1 ... itself made up of
Jastas 4, 6, 10 and 11, was based near Cappy, and only about 20 flying miles
east of the Squadron's aerodrome.
One of the most memorable yet contentious events of the
entire War in the Air occurred on the 21st April, 1918 and 3 Squadron were
right in the thick of it! The incident began about 10 o'clock on that overcast
Sunday morning when two RE8s took off from 3 Squadron's aerodrome near
Poulainville on a routine mission to photograph the Front Line - only 12 miles
away. As they flew East towards their designated target area, they and several
other British aircraft flying nearby were seen by enemy spotters who
immediately alerted the German aerodrome at Cappy.
Rittmeister Baron Manfred von Richthofen, Germany’s 25
year old Ace of Aces who had arrived at the Western Front thirty two months
beforehand, was, as usual, flying his red Fokker Drl triplane numbered
425/17 which had already helped to earn him the name of the "Red
Baron".
Within minutes of his take-off, six other differently
coloured triplanes joined him to form the "Richthofen Circus" as
both friend and foe called these multi-coloured "Jagdgeschwaders"
(or fighter wings) that flew the skies in the early months of 1918.
Before long more triplanes and some Albatros aircraft
from Jasta 5 joined the circus ... turning it into a pretty strong formation
cruising west at about 90 miles per hour towards the two RE8s from 3
Squadron, who were by then flying at 6,000 feet close to Hamel about 10
miles east of their aerodrome.
At about 10.45 am, Lieutenant Edmond Banks the observer in
one of the 3 Squadron RE8s, spotted Richthofen’s Circus approaching. His
pilot, Lieutenant T. L. Simpson kept quickly turning their RE8 into favourable
positions so Lieutenant Banks could get clear shots at four of the triplanes
which had broken away from the others and were swooping from 7,000 feet onto
the two RE8s. During the next 6 or 7 minutes, Lieutenant Banks fired his Lewis
gun at point blank range into one of the attacking enemy triplanes. It went
down. Lieutenant Banks from that moment onwards until his death in 1971, was
understandably sure that he'd been the one to shoot down the Red Baron’s
famous triplane but it appears, from research of records, it was another
triplane, not the Red Baron’s aircraft which was to become involved in a
further interesting happening.
Certainly, 3 Squadron never claimed the kill. They were to
learn that a few minutes after Banks's dog-fight finished, the Red Baron's
triplane became engaged in a chase after a Sopwith Camel from 209 Squadron,
Royal Flying Corps, based close to 3 Squadron and piloted by an inexperienced
newly arrived front-liner, Lieutenant Wilfred May. May had broken away from an
encounter that started about the same time as Banks was shooting down his
triplane. This fight was between 209 Squadron and the main force of
Richthofen's Circus. May's Vickers machine gun had jammed so he was sneaking
back to his aerodrome at Bertangles almost at ground level when suddenly the
Red Baron appeared behind him firing his twin Spandaus.
It was while May’s evasive tactics were leading them up
the Somme Valley at low level, deeper into Allied territory, that May's Flight
Commander, Captain A. Roy Brown saw his fellow Canadian's predicament and
zoomed down from 2,000 feet to help him. At top speed Brown closed on
Richthofen, firing into the right side of the red triplane from behind but
from slightly above, while Richthofen was still chasing and shooting at the
zig-zagging May. Brown’s Camel had too much speed to stay behind Richthofen
so he was forced to break-off the now tree-level chase as he lost sight of
both aircraft behind trees. But he was sure he'd seen his tracer bullets
striking the red triplane and, as he later reported, its pilot. But this
reported hit obviously didn't stop Richthofen who still continued to pursue
and shoot at May for another mile or two until they were over the A.I.F. lines
near Vaux-sur-Somme.
At least five Australian soldiers and even more British
soldiers commenced to independently fire their machine guns from the ground at
the red triplane streaking overhead and still in pursuit of May. Suddenly, the
red triplane wobbled, side-banked upwards, swerved left and crashed. Ground
fire seemed to have hit home and it was thought to have been fired from either
a 53rd Battery Lewis machine gun operated by Gunner Robert Buie or from a 24th
Machine-gun Company Vickers fired by Sergeant Cedric Popkin. Either way, the
Red Baron was dead.
3 Squadron again entered the scene. The triplane had come
down near an abandoned brick kiln adjacent to the Bray-Corbie road and only
about 8 miles from the Squadron's aerodrome at Poulainville.
The location was under direct observation of the enemy who
had commenced a continuous box-shelling of the area surrounding the little
damaged triplane after they saw Australian soldiers running to the crash site
and removing souvenirs. 3 Squadron was ordered to recover the body of the Red
Baron and the triplane and bring both back to the aerodrome.
So a party of about ten 3 Squadron officers and airmen,
led by my father,
Lieutenant James Leybourne (Lee) Smith who wasn't scheduled for flying
duties that day, set out for the area that was, in fact, in a so-called
"no-man's-land" - between enemy and allied lines. He and the Equipment Officer, Captain Ross, were
given the order to bring back the body and the aircraft. The party left Poulainville
late that Sunday morning in Crosley tenders and headed for the crash
site.
They waited until dark before Air Mechanic Cohn Collins
crawled out under enemy fire and hitched a cable to the body and later, with
assistance from Air Mechanic Boxall-Chapman, back to the aircraft itself thus
allowing the rest of the party to haul both aircraft and the body inside back into the shelter of a large
trench. From there the remains were taken back to the aerodrome.
At 11.30 pm that night, a postmortem was carried out in one
of the canvas hanger tents. Photographs of the body had already been taken
and most of the Baron's personal effects souvenired, before four Medical
Officers with 3 Squadron's Commanding Officer, Major David Blake discovered
that the Baron had been killed by a single bullet which entered his body at
the rear and slightly below the right armpit before passing through his
chest and emerging from the left side about 4 inches below the armpit but
about 3 inches higher than the entry point - clearly a bullet that must have
been fired from a position below the Baron's triplane.
Whilst the Red Baron's aircraft was in 3 Squadron's
custody, it was a source of great interest. 
By the time the
official request from army headquarters arrived to turn over the aeroplane
to the authorities, there was very little of it left.
As 
the sun set the next day, the
airmen of 3 Squadron
formed a Firing Party at Bertangles Cemetery, providing full military
honours for the burial of one of the War's greatest and most legendary airmen, whilst the
battle for the Somme continued.
Exceptionally dense fog caused the Squadron's pilots and
observers frustrations, delays and casualties while carrying out their
photographic missions during the rest of April until, on the 4th of May, the
Squadron moved further north to Villiers Bocage.
From here, contact patrols were carried out regularly, some
starting before 4am and flying at low height towards the Allied lines where
the observer would sound a Klaxon horn fitted to the RE8 as a signal for the
front line of troops to light their flares to indicate their most forward line
positions. The positions indicated were marked on a map by the observer and
this map with any other relevant written information would be dropped by the
RE8 at the Brigade Headquarters. Counter-attack patrols were also regularly
carried out to determine the positions of the enemy's front line and
positions. While these patrols were taking place, enemy aircraft and ground
fire continually attacked the RE8s and the Squadron suffered more casualties.
During May, Squadron losses included one Flight Commander
who was killed and two other Flight
Commanders who were wounded while in
combat with the enemy. But the Squadron also scored some victories. Besides
bringing down at least three enemy aircraft in the May and early June period,
a Squadron RE8 forced down an enemy Halberstadt aircraft which landed intact
at 3 Squadron's aerodrome.
Towards the end of June, the Fourth Army asked 3 Squadron
for assistance in dropping quantities of small arms ammunition to the machine
gunners in the front line. The system being used required two soldiers to risk
their lives carrying one box of a thousand rounds which would keep a machine
gun firing for less than five minutes. Each delivery meant travelling two or
three miles under enemy fire so casualties were heavy.
Small parachute for ammunition-dropping,
picture from the Harold Edwards Collection.
At first the RE8 crews
tried throwing the boxes of ammunition over the side with little parachutes
attached but the parachutes broke and created flying missiles capable of
killing the awaiting troops.
So a few ingenious airmen modified their aircraft bomb
racks so that they could carry boxes of ammunition; thus they were able to
successfully make these ammunition drops with the required accuracy into the
areas of need.
On the 4th of July, twelve aircraft from 9 Squadron, Royal
Air Force were attached to 3 Squadron to help them drop 87 boxes of ammunition
to machine gunners fighting a critical offensive near Hamel.
Fighting was so
intense that two aircraft failed to return that day but at least two enemy
aircraft were brought down by the RE8s which were carrying out protective and
reconnaissance patrols in the Hamel area.
Early July the Australian Prime Minister, the Right
Honourable William Hughes, known to all as Billy Hughes, visited the Squadron
and showed keen interest in the work they were doing ... and it was at that
time plans for the Squadron's coming role in the Battle of Amiens were being
prepared by the leaders of the Fourth Army.
The Squadron’s task was critical because all forces knew
that the final stages of the War were now a distinct possibility if the
outcome of the pending Battle of Amiens was successful. General Sir Douglas
Haig approved a plan to start the offensive on the 8th of August, 1918 by
advancing 2nd and 3rd Australian Divisions two miles to a crest of a spur
running north-east from Marcelcave to Cerisy. This would allow 4th and 5th
Australian Divisions to assemble in the Cerisy Valley so they could leap-frog
2nd and 3rd Divisions and advance a further three miles to a line running from
Morcourt, through the north tip of Harbonnieres and then south-east to the
Amiens-Chaulnes railway line. Once these objectives had been achieved, the
plan called for a further advance by 4th and 5th Divisions for another mile to
a new line running from the River Somme near Mericourt through St. Germaine
Woods down to the Amiens-Chaulnes railway line south of Harbonnieres.
3 Squadron's role was destined to follow that of previous
campaigns when they kept Headquarters for the Australian Corps supplied with
information gleaned by reconnaissance and contact patrols, flew low over the
enemy's lines to drown out the noise of allied tanks advancing, laid smoke
screens and observed artillery firing. In preparation for the inevitable
crashes, a break-down squad consisting of fitters and riggers and commanded by
Captain Ross, the Equipment Officer, was sent to the forward zone with a
Leyland lorry and a Crosley tender and a trailer to salvage and help aircraft
forced to crash-land near the Front Line.
At exactly 4.20am on the 8th of August, 1918, the battle
commenced. Eight RE8s from A and B Flights had taken off a little after 4.00am
in very overcast weather but nevertheless dropped their smoke bombs on the
allotted line south-west of Cerisy about 13 miles away just as the ground
troops commenced their spirited surprise attack. By 6.20am, the first stage
was successfully completed and the allied Front Line had been advanced
according to plan. 
During the next nine hours, the Squadron flew contact
patrols and counter-attack patrols continuously and became the eyes for the
progressing army, reporting their observations by dropping marked maps and
messages at the Fourth Army Headquarters. Seven air combats were recorded that
day with the loss of one RE8 which had been attacked near Mericourt by nine
Fokkers and both pilot and observer were killed.
Enemy aircraft in the area were more numerous and more
active during the next few days whilst the allied ground advance continued at
even greater tempo. In spite of constant attacks from air and ground, the RE8s
had the responsibility of photographing the whole of the changing Front Line
and the enemy territory to a depth of 3 miles, sometimes in unbelievably bad
weather. Many photographs had to be developed, printed and distributed to the
various Divisional ground units ... in fact, it was estimated that 90,000
prints were processed by the Squadron, with the assistance of the Wing's
photographic section, during the entire battle.
By mid August, the Army was preparing for its next
offensive advance eastward to Peronne and the need for artillery
reconnaissance was urgent so, in a five day period, 3 Squadron's RE8s carried
out 27 patrols, each of approximately 3 hours duration, to pin-point the
locations of the enemy's batteries.
On the 22nd of August the Army's push eastward began and
the RE8s were used for ammunition drops as well as the usual patrols. The
enemy counter-attacked late that day and bitter fighting continued into the
next day. RE8s loaded with phosphorus bombs left at 4.45am that morning to lay
a smoke screen north of Chuignes and, by late afternoon, they were bombing and
shooting enemy ground positions entrenched in the woods north-east of Estrees.
In between they carried out the usual contact patrols and counter-attack
patrols.
And so this pattern continued until the end of August by
when the ground forces had advanced to the western banks of the River Somme
near Peronne having swept the enemy to the eastern side. By now the
Squadron's daily patrols were using an advanced landing ground at Glisy for
refuelling and re-armaments although a new advanced airfield ten miles further
east near Proyart was established on the 3rd of September after Perrone and
Mont St. Quentin had been captured and nine other major towns had been cleared
of enemy positions.
Those early September days involved the Squadron in low
level road and trench strafing to harass the retreating enemy as well as long
distance photographic patrols to determine a measure of their now obvious
withdrawal towards their own Hindenburg Line.
Early on the 17th of September, a violent thunderstorm tore
the Squadron's canvas hangers 
to shreds and damaged every single aircraft in
them. Even though several were seriously damaged and others beyond repair, all
officers and airmen worked without stopping to rebuild the RE8s so that, by
nightfall, 15 serviceable aircraft were ready for the next day's patrols.
Shortly after, a visit by the Australian Corps Commander,
Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, brought official praise to the Squadron
for not only their dedication to duty since their arrival in Europe but for
the accuracy and promptness of their reconnaissance reporting. And, for the
rest of September 1918, duty was both demanding and varied.
The Front itself was changing continuously as the offensive
by the Australian forces thrust deeper into enemy held ground requiring more
and more up to date photographs. On the 21st of September, the Squadron
commenced a new technique of taking these photographs from the enemy's side at
low level so that the result would be a view of the Australian lines from the
enemy's view-point.
Later that day the Squadron commenced its move to yet
another airfield ... this time five miles south-east to Bouvincourt and only a
few days after this, the RE8s commenced night bombing, completing a very
successful raid on enemy forces dug into the high ground near Gricourt.
Towards the end of September, 27th and 30th American Divisions moved into the
area and 3 Squadron flew reconnaissance for them as well as for 3rd and 5th
Australian Divisions.
A Bristol F2B Fighter which had been allotted to the
Squadron took oblique photographs of the Joncourt-Villers Outreaux line and
even though heavy ground fire damaged the fuselage and the radiator, it didn't
prevent it returning with valuable information. Attacks from enemy aircraft on
the Squadron's RE8s hadn't let up but whenever RE8s were flown by experienced
crews and particularly when two RE8s flew together they didn’t seem to have
any difficulty holding off four or five attacking enemy scouts and generally
being successful in forcing their withdrawal.
On the 29th of September at 5.50am, the storming of the
Hindenburg Line began. Ever since the famous Battle of the Somme in March
1916, the enemy had been preparing and fortifying this line as a major
defensive position. 3 Squadron was called upon to observe the situation and
flew many patrols that day. By now, some RE8s were reporting by wireless
telegraphy from the air in addition to the usual system of dropping simplified
reports at Army Headquarters and confirming these by written 
report after
landing.
As the intensity of the battle increased all Squadron
aircraft carried full loads of bombs and extra ammunition so they could attack
any enemy positions they came across after they'd carried out their
reconnaissance missions. The ammunition loading into each gun-belt was
generally 3 ordinary bullets, then 1 tracer followed by 1 armour-piercer and,
on occasions, 1 Buckingham (or incendiary). The Pomeroy, which was an
explosive bullet, wasn't used by the Squadron. They were so sensitive they had
to be wrapped in cotton wool to prevent accidental explosion. By now many of
the original pilots and observers had either been killed, wounded or sent back
to England to 7 Training Squadron to train new airmen many of whom arrived at
the Front posted to 3 Squadron.
The rest of October was busy. The Allies were advancing
strongly and 3 Squadron was supporting them but when the Australian Divisions
were withdrawn and sent into reserve at Amiens, their place being taken by 9
Corps, it left 3 Squadron without a Corps to work with. It was therefore
assigned to the Fourth Army as a reserve Squadron and began assisting 9 and 35
Squadrons, Royal Air Force, with artillery observation work. It was about this
time that two more Bristol F2B Fighters were added to the Squadron for special
long distance reconnaissance and shortly after that, a full flight of Bristols
were attached to the Squadron, with a ground crew made up of Royal Air Force
personnel but all pilots and observers being provided by 3 Squadron. This
flight was called "0" Flight, RAF.
The Squadron's original Commanding Officer, Major David
Blake received a transfer to England on the 26th of October and Major W. H.
Anderson was given command of the Squadron now suffering badly from a flu
epidemic with over 40 mechanics hospitalised. Nevertheless, patrols were
maintained and they observed clear signs that the enemy was preparing to
retreat.
The last offensive of the War started on the 4th of
November and 3 Squadron provided smoke screens to cover the Allied troops'
advance. Carrying phosphorus bombs, the combined flights flew to five
different pre-planned positions and, at exactly 5.45 am, an hour before dawn,
they dropped their bombs as the artillery open fire. During the rest of the
day, many more screens were regularly laid and between 3.30 and 5.00 that
afternoon, 14 separate bombing raids were carried out as well.
On the 9th of November, 3 Squadron patrols reported the
sighting of white flags fluttering from prominent buildings in the
Cerfontaine-Silenneux vicinity and numerous columns of enemy vehicles and
troops, some holding and displaying hostage civilians to assure they wouldn’t
be attacked as they retreated.
On the 10th of November, a 3 Squadron RE8 took part in the
Squadron's final combat with the enemy. Ten Fokkers attacked this RE8 over
Sivry but a formation of fighters from a nearby Squadron drove them off
without injury to the aircraft. At 11.00 am the following day, an armistice
was declared and all hostilities ceased.
Thus ended the first glorious era in the life of 3
Squadron. From the time of its formation slightly over two years beforehand,
it had acquitted itself admirably from any point of view for it had carried
out almost 10,000 hours of war flying from 10 different aerodromes, and in the
course of this flying observed and reported upon 735 artillery exchanges,
dropped over 6,000 bombs, fired at least half-a-million rounds against enemy
targets and exposed over 6,000 photographic plates covering some 1,200 square
miles of enemy territory.
3 Squadron RE8s, picture from the
Harold Edwards Collection.
During its War Service, 88 pilots and 78 observers were
attached to the Squadron of whom 11 pilots and 13 observers were killed in
action and another 12 pilots and 12 observers were wounded and hospitalised.
The Squadron lost 11 RE8s over enemy lines but succeeded in bringing down 51
enemy aircraft. The Decorations won by the Squadron's personnel during this
War period were:
1 Order of the British Empire
3 Military Crosses
16 Distinguished Flying Crosses
5 Meritorious Service Medals
7 Mentions in Dispatches
3 Foreign Decorations
Besides the men who flew in the aircraft and who generally
held the rank of Lieutenant unless they were Flight Commanders with the rank
of Captain or the Squadron Commander whose held the rank of Major, the
Squadron's records show that 3 Recording Officers, 3 Equipment Officers, 4
Wireless Officers, 3 Armament Officers and 15 attached Allied officers were
involved with the duties of the Squadron during the war years.
But the Squadron could not have achieved its objectives
without the men who made the Squadron work ... the 4 Warrant Officers, the 8
Flight Sergeants, the 27 Sergeants, the 32 Corporals, the 67 First Class Air
Mechanics, the 202 Second Class Air Mechanics, the 5 Third Class Air Mechanics
and the 51 Privates and 94 other Army ranks who at some stage, worked with the
Squadron during its war service period. They were the ones who, for pay of
only a few shillings a day worked consistently long hours usually under mostly
poor living conditions. Food wasn’t always plentiful and they sometimes used
Army issued biscuits called "shrapnel" biscuits, for fire-fuel as
they were so hard that they were more combustible than they were palatable!
Officers on flying duties earned 5 shillings
(about 50 cents today) a day flying
allowance over and above the 7 shillings and 6 pence a day wage paid to a 2nd
Lieutenant or the 10 shillings and 6 pence a day paid to a full 2 pip
Lieutenant. Like the ground crew, they lived under much the same uncertain
living conditions but, as well, they had to contend with the dangers of flying
against an enemy who threw aircraft, ground fire and "archie" or
ack-ack at them almost every time they flew.
They were often required to attack balloons which the enemy
employed to carry out artillery observation. These balloons usually floated at
about 3,000 to 4,000 feet and were anchored in heavily protected ground. As a
target they were quite vulnerable to incendiary bullets so they were pulled
down by their windlasses as soon as an Allied aircraft approached. Often their
observers would parachute from the basket hanging from underneath while the
attacking aircraft was running the gauntlet of fierce ground fire. While the
Squadron wasn't credited with destroying any balloons, many were attacked by 3
Squadron pilots with at least satisfactory results.
But poor living conditions and a strong enemy weren't the
only problems 3 Squadron had to overcome during the war.
In the early months,
they had to do their part in helping the Royal Flying Corps and the Australian
Flying Corps Command convince a partially skeptical Army ground force that
aerial photography gave information that was not only useful but sometimes
invaluable.
An average AFC man serving with 3
Squadron. Picture from the Harold Edwards
Collection.
In early years, some of the Army Command held the viewpoint that
aeroplanes were a novelty which would soon disappear and the photographs they
took would only be useful as souvenirs.
Fortunately, the R.F.C and the A.F.C. succeeded in proving
the worth of the aeroplane and its capabilities and, in the latter years of
the war, Army Company Commanders treated combat not so much a contest of brute
force but a science of analysis fed by intelligence information partially
provided by the Allied Air Forces which, by then, were respected and even
envied by many of the fighting troops on the ground.
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