James McCudden: Difference between revisions

James Thomas Byford McCudden
McCudden in the uniform of the Royal Flying Corps
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army Royal Air Force
Years of service	1910 – 1918
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War I Western Front
Awards	Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order & Bar Military Cross & Bar Military Medal Croix de Guerre (France)

James Thomas Byford McCudden VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar, MM (28 March, 1895–9 July, 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. McCudden was the most highly decorated British Empire pilot of the First World War and one of the longest serving, having joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1913. McCudden's story is all the more remarkable as he rose though the RFC ranks (from Air Mechanic to Major) during the war to become one of the most decorated soldiers of the conflict. At his death he had amassed 57 victories,^[1] making him the seventh highest scoring ace of World War I.

Early and family life

James McCudden was born in Gillingham, Kent to ex-Sergeant-Major William H. McCudden and his wife Amelia of "Pitlochry", 37 Burton Road, Kingston-on-Thames, London. Two of his brothers Willie (killed in 1915) and Jack (killed in 1918) were also military pilots.

Military service

He joined the Royal Engineers in 1910 and transferred to the RFC in 1913 as a mechanic. In August 1914 he went to France with No. 3 Squadron, and was allowed to fly as an observer over the next few months. In January 1916 he returned to England, learned to fly at Gosport, and obtained his pilot's licence in April 1916. He joined No. 20 Squadron as an NCO in June 1916 flying the FE-2 from Clairmarais, near St Omer. After just a month he soon switched to 29 Squadron flying DH-2 scouts. He made his first claim for an aircraft in September 1916.

Sgt McCudden and several of 29 Squadron encountered Jasta 2 and Leutnant Manfred von Richthofen in a prolonged dogfight on the 27th December 1916. The Baron claimed a 'pusher' shot down during this fight, and research seems to indicate it was McCudden's DH-2 he claimed, although none of the 300 bullets fired by the Baron had even hit McCudden's machine and he returned safely to base.

By February 1917 McCudden had received the Military Medal, been granted a commission and awarded the Military Cross. He returned to the UK having claimed 5 air victories.

During this spell, McCudden was twice involved with attempted intercepts of formations of bombers in a phase of Gotha Raids. In the second raid on 17 July1917 on London, out of a defending force of 95 aircraft, McCudden alone was able to achieve sufficient altitude in his Pup to engage the enemy. Having insufficient ammunition, he was unable to make any significant impact.

After a spell with 66 Squadron on Sopwith Pups, he was appointed as a flight commander with 56 Squadron, flying SE5as in mid 1917. McCudden was one of the first truly 'professional' airmen, who applied a scientific approach to air combat, taking great pains over his guns, aircraft, and tactics. He specialised in carefully stalking high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, leading to an unsurpassed total of captured enemy aircraft kills (21 fell within Allied lines). Some of these stalking techniques are described in McCudden's autobiography, entitled "Flying Fury - Five Years In the RFC".

Award of the Victoria Cross

McCudden was 22 years old, and a temporary Captain, when the following events occurred:

During the period August 1917 to March 1918, on aerial patrols over France, Captain McCudden showed conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance and a high devotion to duty. As patrol leader he exercised the utmost skill not only in the manner in which he attacked and destroyed the enemy, but in the way in which, during aerial fights, he protected the newer members of his flight, thus keeping down the casualties to a minimum. By March 1918 he had accounted for 51 enemy aircraft, some single-handed, some while leading his men. As an example of his exploits, on 16 February 1918 he destroyed three two-seater aeroplanes in the morning patrol and added a fourth on his second sortie.

The citation for his Victoria Cross published in the London Gazette on 2 April 1918 read:

For most conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance, and a very high devotion to duty. Captain McCudden has at the present time accounted for 54 enemy aeroplanes. Of these, 42 have been destroyed, 19 of them on our side of the lines. Only 12 out of the 54 have been driven down out of control. On two occasions, he had totally destroyed 4 two-seater enemy aeroplanes on the same day, and on the last occasion all 4 machines were destroyed in the space of one hour and thirty minutes. While in his present squadron, he has participated in 78 offensive patrols, and in nearly every case has been the leader. On at least 30 occasions, whilst with the same squadron, he has crossed the lines alone, either in pursuit or in quest of enemy aeroplanes. The following incidents are examples of the work he has done recently: on 23 December 1917, when leading his patrol, 8 enemy aeroplanes were attacked between 1430/1550 and of these 2 were shot down by Captain McCudden in our lines; on the morning of the same day, he left the ground at 1050 and encountered 4 enemy aeroplanes and of these he shot 2 down; on 30 January 1918, he, single-handed, attacked 5 enemy scouts, as a result of which 2 were destroyed. On this occasion, he only returned home when the enemy scouts had been driven far east; his Lewis gun ammunition was all finished and the belt of his Vickers gun had broken. As a patrol leader he has at all times shown the utmost gallantry and skill, not only in the manner in which he has attacked and destroyed the enemy, but in the way he has, during several aerial fights, protected the newer members of his flight, thus keeping down their casualties to a minimum. This officer is considered, by the record he has made, by his fearlessness, and by the great service which he has rendered to his country, deserving of the very highest honour.

On the day he received his Victoria Cross from the King, McCudden was also awarded his DSO and bar, and a bar to his Military Cross. But he didn't tell his family of his achievement, and attended Buckingham Palace alone. While on leave in London, he later achieved the rank of Major.

Death

McCudden wished to return to the front, but because he was now a high-profile celebrity the Air Ministry was not keen. McCudden eventually won this discussion, but was turned down because of his lack of a public school education for service with the elite No. 85 Squadron RAF.

Accepted for command of No. 60 Squadron RAF, he picked up his new Sopwith SE5A outside London and flew towards Boffles, France, on 9 July 1918. Landing at Auxi-le-Château, France, for directions, shortly after takeoff his engine failed, possibly due to a wrongly installed carburettor. Found with a broken jaw, he was taken to hospital were he died two hours later.

McCudden's remains were subsequently buried at the nearby Wavans war cemetery in the Pas de Calais.^[2] It was only two months after the death of the infamous German ace Manfred von Richthofen, whom some commented had a longer and more distingushed funeral under the British command.

All of McCudden's medals including his Victoria Cross are displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum (Chatham, England), alongside those of two of his brothers and his father. The original brass engraved grave plaque, used along with a wodden propeller, is also displayed in the Royal Engineers Museum.

McCudden's wartime score was 57 victories (third highest among RFC/RAF pilots) included 19 captured, 27 and 1 shared destroyed, 8 and 2 shared 'down out of control'.^[3] Unlike many of his fellow aces, the majority of his claims can be verified from Allied and German sources, suggesting McCudden may in actuality have been the top scoring RFC/RNAS/RAF pilot of the conflict, and the top British flying ace of all time.

McCudden and two of his brothers are also memorialised on a panel on the Carlow Great War Memorial, Leighlinbridge Memorial Garden, Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, Ireland which notes also that their father was born in Carlow.^[4]

Quotation

The Hun triplane was practically underneath our formation now, and so down we dived at a colossal speed. I went to the right, Rhys-Davids to the left, and we got behind the triplane together. The German pilot saw us and turned in a most disconcertingly quick manner, not a climbing nor Immelmann turn, but a sort of flat half spin. By now the German triplane was in the middle of our formation, and its handling was wonderful to behold. The pilot seemed to be firing at all of us simultaneously, and although I got behind him a second time, I could hardly stay there for a second. His movements were so quick and uncertain that none of us could hold him in sight at all for any decisive time

The triplane was still circling round in the midst of six S.E.'s, who were all firing at it as opportunity offered, and at one time I noted the triplane in the apex of a cone of tracer bullets from at least five machines simultaneously, and each machine had two guns. By now the fighting was very low and the red-nosed Albatros had gone down and out, but the triplane still remained. I had temporarily lost sight of the triplane whilst changing a drum of my Lewis gun, and when I next saw him he was very low, still being engaged by an S.E. marked I, the pilot being Rhys-Davids. I noticed that the triplane's movements were very erratic, and then I saw him go into a fairly steep dive and so I continued to watch, and then saw the triplane hit the ground and disappear into a thousand fragments, for it seemed to me that it literally went to powder

As long as I live I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single-handed fought seven of us for ten minutes, and also put some bullets through all of our machines. His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent, and in my opinion he is the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight

We arrived back at the mess, and at dinner the main topic was the wonderful fight. We all conjectured that the enemy pilot must be one of the enemy's best, and we debated as to whether it was Von Richthofen or Wolff or Voss. The triplane fell in our lines, and the next morning we had a wire from the Wing saying that the dead pilot was found wearing the Boelcke collar and his name was Werner Voss. He had the Pour le Mérite

McCudden on the dogfight resulting in the death of German fighter Ace Werner Voss, September 23, 1917 The 'red-nosed Albatros' referred to was piloted by the ace Karl Menckhoff who intervened to assist Voss but was quickly forced down, although he survived the engagement, as did all the British pilots.

References

• Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps, James Thomas Byford McCudden, ISBN 0947898603
• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998)
• VCs of the First World War - Air VCs (P G Cooksley, 1999)
• In the Footsteps of the Red Baron (Mike O Connor & Norman Franks, 2004)
• Above the Trenches,; Shores, Franks & Guest (Grub street, 1990)
• Barker, Ralph (2002). The Royal Flying Corps in World War I. Robinson. ISBN 1-84119-470-0.

Notes

External links

• James McCudden