Help wanted in identifying two aircraft forced down at Ostend

[Toxisch]

Good morning,

I am preparing a book on Oostende (Ostend) during World War I and two of the pictures I want to use show aircraft which were forced down at Ostend:
1/ an Airco DH.9 which made an emergency landing on the beach at Ostend on July 8th, 1916 (according to the picture's caption). The registration is only partly visible and I can read D?802 "N".
2/ A French (according to the caption) Nieuport 17 of which only the registration "6" is visible.
See pictures below:





Could someone help with more information on these two aircraft; eventually units, exact dates, complete serials?


Best regards,

Daniel
Belgian Wings

[elephant]

I'm not an expert, but the N17 looks definitely British...(RFC-1 ?)

[SkippedOnce]

1/ Certainly a DH9, so the date would be 1918 rather than 1916. Lack of sqn markings suggests at date post Mar'18, so 8 Jul 18 is certainly feasible, and should be traceable through RAF Communiques to determine the crew. This photo is reproduced in 'British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I' (L A Rogers, Schiffer, 2001), with this aircraft attributed to 49 Sqn RAF. unfortunately, the serial is no clearer.
2/ Given the engine cowling stripes, style of fuselage number, over-wing Lewis and lack of fuselage-mounted Vickers, I'd say it's from 1 Sqn RFC. In 'British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I', there's a photograph of Nieuport 17 A'6644 (fuselage number 'white 6') of 2/Lt T.H. Lines, POW 18 May 17, although the engine cowling stripes are not shown.
S.O.

[Germanophile-1]

Originally Posted by SkippedOnce

1/ Certainly a DH9, so the date would be 1918 rather than 1916. Lack of sqn markings suggests at date post Mar'18, so 8 Jul 18 is certainly feasible, and should be traceable through RAF Communiques to determine the crew. This photo is reproduced in 'British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I' (L A Rogers, Schiffer, 2001), with this aircraft attributed to 49 Sqn RAF. unfortunately, the serial is no clearer.
2/ Given the engine cowling stripes, style of fuselage number, over-wing Lewis and lack of fuselage-mounted Vickers, I'd say it's from 1 Sqn RFC. In 'British Aviation Squadron Markings of World War I', there's a photograph of Nieuport 17 A'6644 (fuselage number 'white 6') of 2/Lt T.H. Lines, POW 18 May 17, although the engine cowling stripes are not shown.
S.O.

1) Serial number of the D.H.9 seems to be D.802 - but, according to The D.H.4/D.H.9 File by Sturtivant Page (1999), no D.H.9 bore that serial number. Trevor Henshaw's The Sky Their Battlefield (1995) lists one D.H.9 casualty on 8 July 1918, but gives no serial number, as the aircraft made it back to base (albeit with a wounded crewman). That aircraft was from 103 Squadron.

2) On page 123, the book Nieuports in RNAS,RFC and RAF Service produced by Cross & Cockade International (2007) shows Nieuport 23 B.1680 -- in the same photo as posted here -- on 19 June 1917. It lists the machine as being from 1 Sqn, RFC and states that "2/Lt G.C. Atkins was captured after being lost and forced-landing at Mariakerke-Bad near Ostende."

Peter

[Toxisch]

Hello,


Thank you so far for the very detailed information.
Peter, concerning the DH.9, I think that the first number of the serial is not visible but after some research I found that it could either be D2802, D5802 or D9802.
Concerning the Nieuport it is more difficult as both opinions contain a lot of matching details. The "6" on the fuselage matches the "6" on the German captured aircraft, on the other hand I know th area near Mariakerke-bad and it this could certainly be the location as visible on the picture. Perhaps more details will turn up.
In any case thx all very much for your very interesting research.

Best regards,


Daniel
Belgian Wings

[Toxisch]

Hello,


I don't know if this is of any help, but here is a second (bad) picture of the DH.9 on the beach of Ostend. Note that the individual letter "N" is repeated on the nose of the aircraft. Typical for a particular squadron?



Best regards,


Daniel
Belgian Wings

[Germanophile-1]

Originally Posted by Toxisch

Peter, concerning the DH.9, I think that the first number of the serial is not visible but after some research I found that it could either be D2802, D5802 or D9802.

Best regards,

Daniel
Belgian Wings

Daniel,

According to Sturtivant & Page, referenced above (which contains a complete listing of all known D.H.4s and D.H.9s):

D.2802 was lost on 30 August 1918 in Italy
D.5802 was lost on 5 August 1918 off the coast of Jutland
D.9802 serial number was not issued

If you can lay hands on a copy of Trevor Henshaw's outstanding book The
Sky Their Battlefield (referenced above), you might want to spend some hours looking through all D.H.9 losses. Likewise, a thorough search of all of the D.H.9 "D" serials in Sturtivant & Page might offer some clues.

Good luck!

Peter

[Tork1945]

Originally Posted by Toxisch

I don't know if this is of any help, but here is a second (bad) picture of the DH.9 on the beach of Ostend. Note that the individual letter "N" is repeated on the nose of the aircraft. Typical for a particular squadron?

The shot down D.H.9 at Ostende with the marking 'N' originated from No.49 Squadron R.F.C.

No.49 re-equipped with D.H.9s in March 1918, becoming fully operational in April 1918. Squadron markings were discontinued and individual markings were changed to letters painted on the fuselage sides (behind the cockade) repeated underneath the nose behind the propeller. Letters ran from "A" to "S" with "I" not used.

Source: Rogers, Les. 2001. British aviation squadron markings of world war I RFC - RAF - RNAS. Schiffer. pp.103-104

On p.104 is the same picture of the D.H.9 on the beach at Ostende, but without the Dutch / French text as this is cropped. Thinking about the date on the card 8-7-16 combined with the operational dates of the D.H.9 in Squadron 49 I would bet it is 1918 July 16. Surely it is possible to search back if something happened at Ostende on the beach at that day.

Tork1945

[Tork1945]

Originally Posted by Toxisch

1/ an Airco DH.9 which made an emergency landing on the beach at Ostend on July 8th, 1916 (according to the picture's caption). The registration is only partly visible and I can read D?802 "N".

There is a batch of Airco D.H.9 machines running D451 to D950. The one captured on the beach of Ostende is D802, three digits. You have spent some time looking for something that was not there.

Tork1945

[Froggy]

Bonjour

You should look here
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...ing-basket.asp

Bruno