Richard St.John Hartley

ballsouthaironfire · 20 July 2012, 05:32 AM

I am wondering if anyone could help me regarding the following WW1 RFC pilot.

Name: Richard St.John Hartley
Born: 1898
Seconded from the Devonshire Regiment into the RFC.
Served in France, he was shot down and landed in German trenches, but survived.

I'm assisting his son to find information about him (he spoke very little about his WW1 experiences when he was alive), and we would both be very grateful if anyone here may be able to help.

We'd like to know, if possible:
Which Squadron he was in.
Which aircraft he flew.

Many thanks.

Jos · 20 July 2012, 09:55 AM

Hello,

Second Lieutenant Richard St. John Hartley was a member of 34 Squadron. He probably was on contact patrol in a BE2C and shot down by rifle ground fire on 7 October 1916. He was badly wounded. The machines who were on contact patrol this day met a very strong westerley wind, reducing their progres on their homeward flights to almost a standstill. Many machines were heavily shot up and crew were wounded. (The Sky Their Battlefield)

Hope this helps.

Jos

ballsouthaironfire · 28 July 2012, 12:52 AM

Thankyou SO much for that info, Jos.

I will pass it on to Mr. Hartley Jnr, and I'm sure he'll be delighted. It matches with the small amount of info that R. H. passed on to his son; a brief mention of how terrifying it was to be caught in a strong headwind in an underpowered aircraft.

I also found some more info in the 'related posts' section.

Thanks again :-)

Incidentally, for those that may not now, the 'St. John' part of Richard Hartley's name was pronounced "Singeon".