Captain R A Saunders RFC

[Scotty]

Greetings,

I am looking for some information on Captain R A Saunders MC RFC and Royal Field Artillery.

I would like to know how he "won" his MC, and if he was awarded it for action with the RFC or RFA.

also, in TSTB, he is listed as having several air battles whilst a member of 1st Squadron before he was fatally wounded on 14 March 1916. Any idea who dealt the fatal wound? and finally, was he credited with any victories?

Thank You in advance
Scotty

[Dave_Kent]

Hello Scotty:

Regrettably I can only provide a couple of small pieces of information, none of which deal directly with your main questions.

Captain Saunders is referenced a couple of times in

ROYAL FLYING CORPS COMMUNIQUES 1915 -1916, Christopher Cole

Nov. 27 1915, while flying a 1 Squadron Morane, he encountered and chased off 2 Albatros aircraft in separate incidents.

Feb. 29 1916, while flying a 1 Squadron Morane Parasol with 2 Lt. Joske, Capt. Saunders joined in on an attack on an unspecified enemy machine. The account indicates that fire from the Morane disabled or killed the enemy gunner and set the machine on fire. I do not know if credit was given.

There are also earlier references to a Lt. Saunders of 3 Squadron. These were both Morane squadrons so it MIGHT be the same chap.

Sept. 25 1915, a Lt. Saunders, probably flying as an observer, was involved in an artillery shoot. They were heavily fired on from the ground and " were also attacked for 20 minutes by an hostile machine armed with a machine-gun, but which they kept off with a pistol." Both pilot and observer were slightly injured.

Nov. 10 1915, a Lt. Saunders flying a 3 Squadron Morane Parasol, in separate incidents on the same flight, chased off a couple of Albatros and a "Condor".

Note that if this is the same chap he got his promotion between Nov 10 - 27 1915 and was posted from 3 Squadron to 1 Squadron. More research required.

Hope this is of some use.

Dave

[Dave_Kent]

Hello Scotty:

With regard to the flight of Sept 25 noted above, please substitute 'possibly flying as an observer' for 'probably...'. This was a poor choice of words on my part and indicated too high a degree of knowledge and certainty on my part.

Saunders was flying with a Lt. Evans on that day and the Communique listed Evans first. I assumed that this meant that he was the pilot. In thinking it over, it may only mean that he was senior to Saunders. I do not know the protocol for such things, but would be pleased to hear from someone who does.

Dave