- Gosport Aerodrome during the Great War -
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Gosport Aerodrome
17th October 1914 Return to Britain
January 1915 Air defence
1st Sept 1915 New Squadron
October 1915 Detachment Although still in training, 23 Squadron sent a detachment of 2 aircraft to Sutton's Farm aerodrome in October 1915 to intercept Zeppelin air raids on London.
19th Oct 1915 On the Move 13 Squadron was sent to France, reporting first to RFC HQ at St. Omer on 19th of October, and then deployed to Vert Galand 2 days later. Equipped with BE2c aircraft, the main role of the Squadron was artillery observation and photographic reconnaissance, which remained the unit's main tasks throughout the war.
7th Nov 1915 Squadron Formed No 28 Squadron formed at Gosport on the 7th of November 1915 from a nucleus from 22 Squadron. It moved shortly afterwards to Fort Rowner aerodrome.
7th Nov 1915 Squadron Formed
10th Nov 1915 On the Move
26th February 1916 No 40 Squadron formed at Gosport on the 26th of February 1916, the first Squadron to be equipped with F.E.8. The F.E.8 was one of the first single-seat or "scout" aircraft specifically designed as a fighter. In order to overcome the problems of forward facing machine guns not (at that time) being able to fire through the arc of the propeller, it was designed as a "pusher" (i.e., with its propeller behind the cockpit) giving the pilot a clear field of fire ahead.
1st March 1916
25th March 1916
Mid April 1916 Squadron Formed
30th April 1916 New Squadron formed No 60 Squadron formed at Gosport on the 30th of April 1916 (curiously out of sequence as 50-59 Squadrons had not yet been formed at that time). They were staffed by experienced airmen, many of whom had already seen action, and proceeded to France after only one month of preparation equipped with Morane Bullet fighter aircraft.
May 1916
1st May 1916 Squadron in India expanded
8th June 1916 New Squadron formed
14th July 1916 New Squadron formed
14th July 1916 On the Move
August 1916
October 1916 No.41 Squadron proceeded to France in October 1916 flying FE8s. Deployment to the front line soon showed that the F.E.8 was at a severe disadvantage compared with the German Fokker Eindekker fighter. The drag created by its tail ensured it was slower than the Fokker, and its light-weight construction made it vulnerable to attack both from other aircraft and from ground fire. It was nick-named Fokker fodder by its pilots and dead meat by the Germans. Pilots also soon learned not to use it for ground attack.
9th Oct 1916 Aircraft
15th Oct 1916 Move
1st November 1916 New Home Defence Squadron formed
24th July 1917 Squadron formed
1st August 1917 New Squadron formed
20th September 1917 On the MoveIf you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Want to know more about Gosport Aerodrome?
These include information on officers service records, letters, diaries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Those known to have served at
Gosport Aerodrome
during the Great War 1914-1918.
- Uren George. Sgt. (d.13th September 1917)
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- 19th Nov 2024
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Want to know more about Gosport Aerodrome?
There are:25 items tagged Gosport Aerodrome available in our Library
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