John Alcock -- RFC pilot shot down over Turkey

Hello,

I am seeking whatever information I can find about John Alcock, a British pilot who served in the eastern Mediterranean and was shot down, apparently over Turkey. I do not know his squadron, but I believe he could have been based in Macedonia. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scott

[Graeme]

Sir John William Alcock.

Alcock was born in 1892 at Seymour, Old Trafford, England. He served with No 2 Wing, Royal Naval Air Service and received the Distinguished Service Cross. He was shot down during a bombing raid and taken prisoner in Turkey. After the war, Alcock wanted to continue his flying career and took up the challenge of attempting to be the first to fly directly across the Atlantic.

With his navigator, Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, he piloted the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight from St John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland. They departed St John's at 1.45 p.m. local time on 14 June 1919, and landed in Derrygimla bog 16 hours and 12 minutes later on 15 June 1919 after flying 1,980 miles. The flight was made in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber and won a £10,000 prize offered by London's Daily Mail newspaper.

A few days after the flight both Alcock and Brown were knighted by King George V.

Alcock was present at the Science Museum in London on 15 December 1919 when the recovered Vimy was presented to the nation. Three days later he was flying a new Vickers amphibious plane, the Type 54 Viking, to the first postwar aeronautical exhibition in Paris when he crashed in fog at Cote d'Everard, near Rouen, Normandy stalling such that a wing hit a tree. He died before medical assistance arrived.

Graeme

Thanks Graeme,

I am most interested in his military service. The bios on Alcock all seem to gloss over this chapter in his life. Do you happen to know where he was based? What kind of plane did he fly? Did he have a navigator/gunner? How many kills did he notch? When was he shot down? Where was he captured? Where was he held prisoner? When was he released? Why was he awarded the DSC?

If you don't know the answers, do you have any suggestions as to where I could find this kind of information? I have tried the National Archives (online) but information on WWI fliers is apparently microfiched and not available over the internet. Thanks again.

Scott

[TomVrille]

Originally Posted by scottmorrison

I am most interested in his military service... Do you happen to know where he was based? What kind of plane did he fly?...

The following references to John Alcock are drawn from Leonard H. Rochford's book I Chose the Sky.

In late 1916, Alcock was a Flight Lieutenant serving with what was known as "The War Flight", based at Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey. The mission of The War Flight was to attack and destroy any enemy aircraft which approached or crossed the Southeast coast of England. The equipment of The War Flight at the time consisted of two or three BE2c, one Avro with a 100 hp Gnôme Monosoupape engine, a somewhat bizarre pusher scout known as the Pemberton-Billing PB25 ('Push-Proj"), and a half dozen Bristol Scouts having either 80 hp or 100 hp Gnôme Monosoupape engines, except for one with an 80 hp Le Rhône powerplant.

Alcock would have logged time on all of these aircraft. A rather amusing tale is told of Alcock's experience with the PB25. The Commander of The War Flight, E. H. Dunning (of deck-landing fame), landed in the PB25, and told Alcock, "I would like you to take this machine up and see what you think of it as I thought the wings were going to fall off." Alcock went ahead and flew the beast, although most likely with rather sweaty palms. Upon his return, he declared the PB25 safe.

Hope this helps.

[Graeme]

Scott

Alcock went down in the Gulf of Xeros near Suvla Bay in HP O/100 3124 on 30 September 1917 - hit by anti-aircraft fire after bombing Constantinople. His crew comprised Flight Sub-Lieutenant H R Aird and Warrant Officer S J Wise; they all swam ashore and were taken prisoner. The Wing was stationed at Mudros.

The citation for his DSC read:

Flt. Lieut. John William Alcock, R.N.A.S. (now prisoner).

For the great skill, judgment and dash displayed by him off Mudros on the 30th September, 1917, in a successful attack on three enemy seaplanes, two of which were brought down in the sea.

Graeme

Graeme,

That's fantastic. Thanks so much. A few more questions, if I may push my luck. What is HP O/100 3124? Was Alcock flying against German planes or were they Turks? And finally, do you know of any books or other resources that provide an in-depth look at Alcock's personal life (childhood, family, social class, education, girlfriends, etc)? Thanks again.

Scott

[rammjaeger]

A report in a German paper in Leipzig (I think Englishman call it Lipsia or so) quotates the report of the Turkish Head Quarter from 1 October 1917. I quotate the part related to Alcock:

"Aus dem türkischen Hauptquartier:

Konstantinopel, 1. Oktober

...
Am Sarosgolf wurde ein englische Flugzeug neuen Systems durch unser Feuer von der Erde aus zum Landen gezwungen. Die aus drei Mann bestehende Besatzung fiel in unsere Hand. ..."

Rough translation:

"From the Turkish Head Quarter:

Constantinople, 1 October

...
In the Gulf of Saros a new English airplane model was forced to land by our ground fire. The crew consisting of three men fell in our hands. ..."

That means the brand new Handley Page bomber was downed by either Turkish or German (or mixed) anti aircraft artillery or MG crews.

[Graeme]

Scott

As rammjaeger has said, "HP" stood for Handley Page, a firm that made a succession of bombers, such as the O/100, O/400 and V/1500. In this instance, 3124 was the military serial number allotted to the particular aeroplane.

Other than references in connection with his trans-Atlantic flight, I've not come across much in the way of biographical material. You could try a search on the net, but on Google his name brings up 256 results, so you could be in for a busy time!

Graeme

rammjaeger and graeme,

thank you both very much for your help. a friend of mine is a descendent of alcock and i've always found it odd that the man who made the first non-stop flight (with brown) has been largely forgotten by history, at least on this side of the pond. most people here think lindbergh was first. cheers.

scott