Great War>The War in the Air

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No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps    No. 70 Squadron formed on the 22nd of April 1916 at Farnborough and proceeded to France. It was redesignated No. 70 Squadron, Royal Air Force in April 1918. 22nd April 1916 New Squadron formed  No 70 Squadron formed at Farnborough on the 22nd of April 1916 as a fighter squadron. However an urgent search at all Home Establishment aerodromes produced only twelve aircraft suitable for service at the front. The situation was so bad for the RFC that the Commander of the RFC, Hugh Trenchard, then sent an urgent appeal to the Admiralty for aircraft. The Admiralty responded by releasing a number of the new Sopwith 1 ½ Strutters to the RFC and these were used to provide 70 Squadron with a first flight of aircraft. Most of the airmen selected had previous operational experience and, such was the urgency to get more aircraft onto the front line, each flight proceeded to Fienvillers in France as soon as there were sufficient machines and men available. ‘A’ Flight flew to France on 24 May 1916, with ‘B’ Flight following them on the 23rd June and ‘C’ Flight in July. When introduced into service with the Navy in February 1916, the Strutter had been the most capable aircraft in service, the first British aircraft with a machine gun synchronised to fire through the propellor. This forward firing gun combined with a rear mounted Lewis gun provided it with reasonable protection for its long range work particularly when operating in formation. However by the time 70 Squadron arrived on the Western Front the German Albatros had appeared with markedly superior performance. The Strutter was simply too slow and the stable design was not agile enough for dogfighting. Consequently, although intended as a fighter squadron, No.70 was more commonly used for reconnaissance.  More info. 23rd Jun 1916 Aircraft damaged 1st Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 1st Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 2nd Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 5th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 8th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 8th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 8th Jul 1916 Aircraft Lost 8th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 11st Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 12th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 19th Jul 1916 Aircraft Lost 20th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 22nd Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 27th Jul 1916 Aircraft damaged 2nd Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 4th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 5th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 6th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 6th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 6th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 7th Aug 1916 Aircraft Lost 9th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 9th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 9th Aug 1916 Aircraft Lost 13th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 17th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 21st Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 21st Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 21st Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 24th Aug 1916 Aircraft Lost 25th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 25th Aug 1916 Aircraft damaged 28th Aug 1916 Aircraft Lost 2nd Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost   3rd Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 6th September 1916 Air combat success 6th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 9th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 14th September 1916  Shot down 14th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 14th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 15th September 1916  Airmen killed 15th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 15th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 15th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 15th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 17th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 21st Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 22nd Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 24th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 25th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 26th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 26th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 27th Sep 1916 Aircraft Lost 27th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 28th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 30th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 30th Sep 1916 Aircraft damaged 1st Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 4th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 5th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 6th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 8th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 9th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 10th Oct 1916 Aircraft Lost 10th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 10th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 14th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 15th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 16th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 20th Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 21st Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 21st Oct 1916 Aircraft Lost 22nd Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 23rd Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 31st Oct 1916 Pilot wounded 31st Oct 1916 Aircraft Lost 31st Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 31st Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 31st Oct 1916 Aircraft damaged 1st Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 10th Nov 1916 Aircraft Lost 10th Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 11st Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 14th Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 15th Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 16th Nov 1916 Aircraft Lost 22nd Nov 1916 Aircraft damaged 4th Dec 1916 Aircraft damaged 11st Dec 1916 Aircraft damaged 16th Dec 1916 Aircraft damaged 25th March 1917 Five aircraft lost 24th April 1917 Bombers intercepted June 1917 New role 1st June 1917 Superior numbers 17th July 1917  Dogfight 10th September 1917 Two aircraft lost 20th October 1917 Airfield attacked If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Want to know more about No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps? There are:100 items tagged No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War. Those known to have served with No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps during the Great War 1914-1918. Robinson MC. Harry Noel Cornforth. Lt. Streather Edward Harry Parsons. 2Lt. (d.11th Sept 1917) Warminger Herbert Percy. AC1. (d.25th Aug 1916) All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. Looking for help with Family History Research?    Please see Family History FAQ's Please note: We are unable to provide individual research. Can you help? The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Announcements 19th Nov 2024     Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264989 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. 229925 Lt. Harry Noel Cornforth Robinson MC 17 Sqdn. Harry Robinson was the eldest son of railway clerk Henry and his wife Dorothy, and was born on 25th December 1898. Harry was educated at Mr Scott’s High School for Boys in York Road, Hartlepool and at Durham Grammar School. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in March 1916 and by August, was flying over the German lines on the Western front in a Sopwith Pup with No. 46 Squadron, the squadron was soon re-equipped with Sopwith Camels. In May 1917 he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps and, following confirmation of his rank, became a flying officer in July 1917 with No. 17 Squadron. In December 1917 Harry scored his first aerial victory, capturing a German reconnaissance aircraft. In his second victory, on 11th March 1918, he drove down a German Albatros DV. Harry secured six further victories between the 21st and 24th March and was appointed a flight commander, moving to No. 70 Squadron. He took two more victories in April and May. He was awarded a Military Cross which was gazetted on 3rd of May for showing “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty” in an aerial attack, while running out of petrol. Harry remained in the RAF after the war and saw active service in Iraq in 1921, where he won the Distinguished Flying Cross. He went on to become a lecturer and instructor in bombing and gunnery at RAF Eastchurch in Kent, but fell ill in late 1925. Harry died on 2nd June 1926, at a sanatorium in Norfolk. He was just 27 years old and left his wife Erica and a daughter. Add to this record. 216083 AC1. Herbert Percy Warminger 70th Squadron (d.25th Aug 1916) Herbert Percy Warminger, Airman First Class 3538, served in the Royal Flying Corps and died age 25 on the 25th August 1916. He is remembered at Palmer Cenotaph and is buried in Forceville Communal Cemetery Extension. His medal card shows the award of the War and Victory Medals. Herbert was born in Jarrow 1888, son of the late John Henry and Annie Warminger of Jarrow. In the 1911 census the family including Herbert's Parents and 7 children are living at 25 Lord Street, Jarrow while Herbert(22) himself is a boarder at 56 Hibernian Road, working as a house joiner. Vin Mullen Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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