balloon victor August 9, 1917

I am searching for the Alliied pilot, who shot down a German Ballon on August 9, 1917 near Faschoda/ Carvin.
Thanks for your help

[Rick]

Ref. 'Royal Flying Corps Communiques, 1917-1918' edited by Chaz Bowyer: Communique No. 100. Paraphriasing: Balloons were claimed by Sgt. L.A. Herbert of 40 Sqn. RFC and Lt. C.W. Warman of 23 Sqn. RFC. Locations are not given.

So - pretty good, only TWO claims for a single German loss! Much better than average for the British!

thanks for the quick answer. Can anyone confirm that these units were active in the area of Faschoda/ Carvin?

[Ron_F]

40 sqn was based out of Bruay during that time.

23 sqn was at La Lovie at that time.

Carvin is just across the lines from Bruay, about 20 miles.

LaLovie is roughly 40 or so miles nw of Carvin. IMOHO, probably Sgt Herbert of 40 sqn.

Ron

[Graeme]

According to RFC Communique No 100 - machines of 40 Squadron attacked six German balloons. One was shot down in flames by Sgt L A Herbert and three were seen to be smoking and the other two hit. Machines of the 5th Brigade also attacked German balloons and one was brought down in flames by Lt C W Warman, 23 Squadron, who used Buckingham ammunition.

In addition to Warman and Herbert, balloons were claimed by Lt J L Barlow, 40 Sqn, at 09:30 (Lens) and 2nd Lt W L Harrison, 40 Sqn, 09:45 (Arras).

Graeme

[Graeme]

Having looked at my map, it seems that Carvin is a short way to the north west of Lens so while Sgt Herbert's claim appears in the Communique, Lt Barlow's claim (near Lens) must be considered a possible match also.

On page 9 of Above The Trenches it is stated "Another difficulty arose; balloons claimed in 1917 and early 1918 were recorded on a separate form from used for claims against aircraft......40 Squadron, for instance, undertook some balloon 'strafes' in May 1917 which are listed in the RFC Communiques, but for which not all claim forms have been found, whilst those that do exist do not mention precise times...".

The lists of claims for both Barlow and Harrison in ATT show that the balloon claims appear in the squadron Operational Record Book; they do not appear in the RFC Communique, but this in itself proves nothing since the Communiques were not intended to be the official vehicle for claiming victories.

It all seems to depend upon who, at Squadron, Wing and Brigade level made the judgement call -"decisive" or "indecisive".

Graeme

How many soldiers were normally on a German Baloon? Is it possible that three to five soldiers died at one attack?

It is more likely that these balloon-men, buried in Carvin, were killed by ground fire or an accident.

[rammjaeger]

>>How many soldiers were normally on a German Balloon?<<

Thorsten,
a balloon basket was filled with one or two (in some very seldom cases with three) men.
Common soldiers or "Flieger" were not observers but ground personnel. The observer job requires tactical and other knowledge and demands in general officers as observers.

[rammjaeger]

I forgot to mention that a balloon coming down burning could kill some people too. There is a famous photograph existing showing some American soldiers moving on the ground like "Speedy Gonzales" when a balloon comes burning down. They were sprinting to avoid being wrapped in a burning envelope.