Arch Whitehouse

[jado]

In Allen Morris's 1967 book Bloody April he refers to an Arch Whitehouse on page 183 in discussing the RFC obtaining observers from the enlisted ranks.he then states:
"Arch Whitehouse, Richthofen's 'victim' of April 13, unofficially shot down 16 HA and six balloons, won the Military Medal, and had 1300 operational hours to his credit before he became an officer-although his American background may have been a delaying factor.".
I realize that Whitehouse was not Richthofen 'victim' on the 13th or any other time. *But, in trying to find information on Whitehouse (I assume the author), I find a Whitehouse of 22Sqn being shot down 10May17. *My questions are:
Is the May 10th victory the author?
Has anyone heard about 16 victories and six balloons?

Many of the Bibliography listings appear to dubious.

As always, thanks in advance.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * VBR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Joe

Joe,
I'm sure you will get some responses to this one! Arch W. never made it to ace status, let alone tallying 22 victories. I examined Above The Trenches carefully, going over all the aces from his unit, and I found, if I recall, three victories where AW had taken part, and even those were shares with other crews. Obviously he could have flown with non-aces, but not enough to tally 22 victories.
His writing is entertainment, to be sure, but I would never consider it authoritative Do I recall reading in one of his books that he also invented the dogfight? Supposedly he also destroyed a German aircrasft the very afternoon he arrived at 22 Sqn., and also "for weeks on end" was the acting flight commander. A corporal? I don't think so.
On the other hand he did win the MM. I'm not sure of his "American" status. He was British born, I think, and had moved to the US before the war and then returned in 1914 to enlist.

[Graeme]

Joe and Terry

As far as I can work out, Arch ended up with four victories, 2 on 12 August 1917, another on 2 October and another on 10 October; the first three appear in RFC communiques. The award of the Military Medal appeared in RFC Communique number 111 under the date 23 October 1917 but did not appear in the London Gazette until 17 December.

Graeme

[jado]

Graeme & Terry:

Just realized that I have a copy of one of his works on my self, "Heroes of the Sunlit Sky". *Thought you might be interested in the flyleaf authors piece.
"Well-known for his military histories and air adventure stories, Arch Whitehouse was a British gunner and fighter pilot in World War 1, he earned sixteen air victories and the rank of Acting Captain. A war correspondent during World War II, he has continued his writing career and is the author of many military histories including: The Zepplin Fighters, Years of the Sky Kings, Legion of the Lafayette".
No mention of any American heritage or what news service or paper he wrote for. *Also, this Acting Captain thing.
Apparently the publishers had the same bad in formation that Norris had.
Again gentlemen, thank you for your time and effort.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * VBR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Joe

Graeme,
I know of the following victories which involved Whitehouse:
- 12 Aug 17: Alb.DV destroyed (flames) with pilot Lt.J.C.Bush (shared with Capt. C.M.Clement/Lt.R.B.Carter and Lt. M.W.Turner/Lt.Edison). One-third share
- 12 Aug 17: Alb.DV OOC with Lt.Bush (shared with Clement/Carter) One-half share
- 2 Octt 17: 2-seater destroyed with Bush. Full credit.
Can you supply any details of his fourth victory on 10 Oct.? Pilot?

[Graeme]

Terry

Sorry for the delay in replying, just got back from two weeks on Gran Canaria when the PC goes on the fritz (only got it back yesterday and took over three hours reloading files etc).

Arch's fourth victory was apparently an Albatros DV destroyed at 16:50 on 10 October 1917 over Moorslede in F2A B1123. The pilot was Lt W G Meggitt and this was his 5th victory (see the entry for Meggitt in Above The Trenches).

Meggitt is mentioned in the RFC Communique for 11 October 1917 with his observer, Capt F A Durrand. It is possible that this entry relates to the previous day's action and that these two officers were actually pilots. I'll have to have a look and see if I've anything else for this squadron that might shed some light on the matter.

Graeme

Thanks, Graeme. I stand corrected. Four it is; twenty-two it isn't.

I love Arch's books, especially the ones on WW2

I there any evidence of Whithouse being shot down by MvR other than his own account in "Sky Kings"? I loved that book when I first read it, though I'm a bit skeptical of some of it's info now.

[Billy_Bishop]

I'm going to be completely honest on this one, I love ALL of Arch Whitehouse's books that I've read. It was his books on WWI aerial fighting and those of Quentin Reynolds that got me interested in WWI Aerial combat history.

I don't care how far off they are, THEY got me hooked almost 30 years ago. And in general, they are STILL among what I consider to be the best read in the genre.

Their books may not be strictly historical, but they're not totally fiction either.

VBR,

Al