George McElroy

Hello from Ireland,

I am trying to find some infromation about the Irish Ace George McElroy.
Where is he buried, how was he shot him down, and did he have any contact
with The Red Baron. Have any books or articles been written about his
life?

With many thanks,

Madeleine O'Rourke

Dear Skywords,
Have you tried Yahoo? When I entered MCELROY, GEORGE , a number of pages came up; the first page on the list looked interesting. Alors, vous pouvez lire francais, n'est-ce pas? (Well, at least you can look at the pictures!)...

[Frank_Olynyk]

He is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commision web site, with the cemetery and plot location, and directions on locating the cemetery.

Frank.

[Darryl]

Madelaine,

There was an article on McElroy in C&C long ago if I recall correctly, if not it was about his squadron and he was featured. I'll have a look. If I find it I'll let you know (could be a couple of weeks), or someone with more time may dig it out for you.

reagrds

Darryl

Many thanks for that info.
I have a translation programmethat I bought a few weeks ago, this sounds like
the moment to try the French section.
It is called Easy Translator 3 and claims to translate web pages (Spanish, German,
Italian, Portuguese as well as French)

I also emailed C&C with the query, so no doubt they will be able to source it for me.

I am in contact with some of his family here in Dublin. They will be very happy
with the information regarding the location of his grave. They were under the impression that his body was never found.

Many thanks again for the information.

Madeleine

Dear Madeleine,
The following is from Norman Franks' WHO DOWNED THE ACES IN WW1? (on or about page 162):
"McElroy had taken off alone on the morning of the 31st [July] in his SE5 E1310, a virtually new machine with just 11 hours' flying time in its log book. It was hard for the Squadron to cpmprehend when he simply failed to fly home. Some time later the Germans dropped a note to say that he had been shot down by AA fire after shooting down a two-seater-- probably a Hannover CL of Schlasta 19 lost this day. He came down and was buried at Laventie. However, Unteroffizier Gullmann of Jasta 56, claims to have shot down a SE5 south-west of Armentieres at 10.15, and Laventie is sounth-west of this town. It was the German's first and only victory and it seems inconceivable that someone of McElroy's ability should be brought down by such a novice, although it must be said that Gullmann had been with the unit since early February, had survived thus far, and continued to survive until October. Also, this apperas to be the only SE5 lost this day. One might be uncharitable and suggest Gullmann saw McElroy fall and made a claim, for it seems equally inconceivable that the Germans would go to the trouble of droppping a note saying how McElroy had died if he had truly been shot down in combat. Wouldn't they too make some mileage out of bringing down someone so distinguished? Another WW1 mystery."
Sorry if I've muddied the waters...

[Amy]

Madeline:

Yep, McElroy is buried in Laventie Military Cemetery, 8 miles SW of Armentieres in France. This is the same cemetery that contains an Unknown British Aviator grave stone which is believed to possibly be the final resting place of McElroy's friend, Mick Mannock. Mick fell five days before McElroy.

Amy

Hi

Many thanks for the information on McElroys Grave.
Was the body returned by the Germans for burial?
Another source has told me that he thought that the Grave did not contain McElroys remains.
Would they have allocated Graves, that were in fact empty?
Bit morbid this, but this information is important
for my research.

With many thanks,

Madeleine

[Amy]

Madeline:

In Mick Mannock's situation, the Germans buried him near where he crashed. They stripped him of his identification during burial. After the war, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission went about researching graves and moving the bodies into cemeteries. Since Mick was buried without ID, it is not known for sure if the Unknown British Aviator gravesite actually contains his body. (BTW, after the war, the German who had Mick's ID and personal affects, sent them back to the family via the Red Cross.)

Perhaps McElroy's situation was similar? He was buried by the Germans near where he fell and after the war, his grave was moved to Laventie Military Cemetery? Only guessing here. Someone around here might be able to shed more light on this, but aren't stepping up to the plate.

Depending on how deep you want to research, contacting the Commonwealth War Graves Commission might do some good. If you haven't contacted them already.

Good luck!
Amy

Read Wings Over The Somme by Wg Cmdr Gwilym Lewis, who was MeElroy's friend in 40 Squadron. There' some nice pictures of him. I had the pleasure of knowing Wg Cdr Lewis for many years and he always wondered why McIrish as he was known, never got the DSO. His medals may be in the Imprial War Musuem but I am not sure. Gwil told me the story of his leaving party, when his other great friend Mannock flew in for. He remembers Mannock telling McElroy off for flying too low and ground straffing too often. He said ther was know futiure in it as a sport. Ironinc, what?

ATB, Brad