Royal Marine Pilots

World War I

The previous page was: "First Recruits"

During World war I, Battle of Malta, Royal Marine pilots in the Swordfish and Albacore squadrons based on the island at H.M.S. Falcon, played a notable part in attacking German and Italian shipping in the Mediterranean.

It was no innovation for them to fly with the Fleet Air Arm, for the Corps had provided the Fleet with a number of pilots since its inception of naval flying.

Lieutenant E.L. Gerrard, R.M.L.I., was one of the first four officers to be trained as a naval pilot at the Royal Aero Club's airfield at Eastchurch in 1911.

When the Royal Flying Corps was established in the following year more Royal Marine officers were trained for duty with the naval wing, and on the outbreak of war in 1914, by which time the Royal Naval Air Service was in being, twelve Royal Marines had qualified as pilots.

Many more joined during the war; some were not officers; others served as observers, and Royal Marine N.C.Os. assisted in training recruits in the elements of drill and discipline.

Lieutenant Gerrard won the D.S.O., and Captain R. Gordon, R.M.L.I., the second officer to qualify, distinguished himself in the destruction of Konigsberg in East Africa and at the Battle of Ctesiphon in Mescopotamia

He was awarded the C.G.M., and both he and Lieutenant Gerrard retired as Air Commodores in the Royal Air Force.

First Recruits

John Edmonds, R.M.L.I

The First Non-Commissioned Marine To Fly

John Edmonds was born in Walworth, London on 4th December 1881, and by the age of eighteen he was earning a living as a slater's labourer.

In 1912, at the age of thiry, he would become the first non-commissioned pilot of the Royal Navy, the twentieth qualified naval pilot and one of the earliest pioneers of manned flight. He achieved this singular distinction as a private in the Royal Marines Light Infantry.

On 29th June 1900, Edmonds enlisted in the R.M.L.I. at the age of eighteen and a half, and followed the usual recruit training at Deal, Kent until February 1901, having been assigned to the Chatham Division.

For 10 Years He Had A Typical Career

His first draft was three years in "H.M.S. Terror" the base ship on the island of Bermuda, for duty at the "Commissioner's House". His sea-time was spent mainly in cruisers, in cluding two years on the China station in "H.M.S. Astraea," before serving in scout cruisers "Attentive" and "Forsight".

Throughout his time he remained a private in the R.M.L.I., consistently assessed as 'VG' and being awarded two good conduct badges.

He served on "H.M.S. Wildfire" for five months and then his career took a major change of direction. On 22nd September 1911, he was drafted to "H.M.S. Actaeon" at Sheerness.

"Actaeon" was the depot ship for torpedo training and for torpedo boat destroyers and she was the pay and administration base for the naval flying school which had just been established on the Isle of Sheppey.

John Edmonds was drafted into the Royal Naval Air Service from this date, retaining his R.M.L.I register number and rank as private. He was probably working as a mechanic, and he probably acquired his technical flying skill, while working on the job.

The Commanding Officer Lieutenant Charles Rumney Samson R.N., the first qualified naval pilot who gained his certificate on 25th April 1911.

The records show that on 30th July 1912, Edmonds was granted an Aviator's Certificate. He then went on to qualify as a pilot two weeks before 'The Father of the Royal Air Force' then Major Hugh Montague Trenchard C.B. who had been difficult to train and was considered a poor pilot.

World War II

Royal Marine pilots have also been decorated for destroying enemy bombers and shadowers during the passage of the great convoys to Malta.

Major Newson's Albacore squadron moved to Malta, where it shared in the task of harassing the enemy's seaborne lines of communication from Italy to Tripoli and Tunisia. Where, one night, four of the Albacores sank or seriously damaged two merchant ships and a destroyer with three torpedoes.

In World War II, the Royal Marine Pilots of the Fleet Air Arm have maintained the high tradition of their predecessors. Lieutenant G,B,K Griffiths was one of the first three pilots to bomb an enemy submarine, the U-30, which had attacked "S.S. Fanad Head" in the North atlantic on 14th September 1939.

During the Norwegian campaign other Royal Marine pilots from the "Ark Royal" performed excellent service. Captain E.D. McIver, who took part in a raid on shipping in Bergan harbour on 14th April 1940, followed his leader in to the attack and dropped his bombs with great skill inspite of the appalling weather. He, failed to return.

Captain N.R.M. Skene won the D.S.C., for leading a Swordfish squadron in two bombing attacks on Vaernes airfield at Trondheim and destroyed three hangars in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire.

Attacking The Germans

On 27th April Captain R.T. Partridge, flying a Skua, shot down Heinkel 111 bomber, while on patrol in the Aandalsnes area and soon afterwards was himself forced to land in four feet of snow, owing to engine trouble.

Having destroyed the Skua, Captain Partridge and his observer, Lieutenant R.S. Bostock, R.N., sought shelter in a hut nearby. While they were inside they heard a whistle, and on looking out saw three of the crew of the Heinkel they had shot down, it transpired later that the rear gunner had been killed in the action.

The Germans were all armed with revolvers and knives. For a few moments the two parties stood looking at each other in silence. To the Brirish airmen the situation looked unpromising. They had no weapons of any kind.

Boldly Captain Partridge said to the Germans: "You come in here." To great relief they obeyed him; once they were in the hut Captain Partridge continued to take charge, making himself understood in a mixture of English and German.

He informed the Germans that they were to spend the night in the hut, and that he and Lieutenant Bostock would sleep in the hotel which could be seen at the bottom of the hill. He would see the Germans in the morning, he told them.

The Hotel Proved To Be Deserted

Early next morning while Partridge and Bostock were prepaing breakfast from some porridge and coffee they had found, the Germans turned up. "We have come as you told us," one of them said. There was nothing for it but to ask them to share the breakfast; they still had their arms.

After breakfast Partridge announced that he was going to explore the country in the neighbourhood of the hotel. The Heinkel's navigator offered to go with him. Bostock stayed at the hotel to keep an eye on the other two Germans.

Soon after leaving, the two explorers ran into a Norwegian ski patrol. On being challenged, the German navigator's hand went towards his revolver. A rifle shot rang out and he fell dead in the snow.

The Others Emerged From The Hotel

The Norwegians kept them covered, while Partridge tried to convince them that he and Bostock were English, without much success until Bostock, pointed to the tailor's label inside his jacket saying: "Look, Gieves, London."

The head of King George V on a half-crown coin, produced by Partridge clinched the matter, and it then turned-out that the English-speaking leader of the patrol had a brother-in-law serving in "H.M.S. Glorious," who was a close friend of Partridge's.

The Germans Were Less Fortunate

The patrol marched them off to French Headquarters. Partridge and Bostock, made their way to Aandalsnes, which they reached just before the evacuation.

For his "initiative and resource" Captain Partridge was awarded the D.S.O., the first decoration to be won by the Corps during that war. He was taken prisoner during a raid which the "Ark Royal's" skuas made on the "Scharnhorst" in Trondheim harbour, the last raid of the campaign.

Narvik Railway Line

Another Royal Marine pilot, Captain W.H.N. Martin, led a squadron attack on a railway line east of Narvik on 9th May. This is his account of the raid, broadcast to the ship's company of the "Ark Royal."

"When we arrived at a point near Narvik we were greatly encouraged to see one of our fighter patrols overhead. We split up into two sections and proceeded to our pre-arranged targets.

Captain Skene's section went up to a large railway bridge near the Swedish border and each aircraft carried out two attacks on this objective and on a tunnel nearby.

One pilot obtained two magnificent hits right in the middle of the track on the bridge and then Captain Skene placed a salvo into the mouth of the tunnel.

My section went to a place called Hunddallen, where we were greeted by the pleasing sight of a train standing in the railway station. This we attacked, and I managed to hit the train with a 250-lb bomb.

It caught fire and the front half overturned. We were greeted with flak and machine-gun fire, but although two aircraft were hit, there was no more damage to personnel."

Italian Warships And Libyan Coast

Since those early days, pilots of the Marines have flown with no less gallantry, both from decks of aircraft-carriers and from shore bases. One took part in the battle of Taranto and was awarded the D.S.C.

Tha same officer, Captain Oliver Patch, won the D.S.O. for leading a sub-flight of Swordfish in an attack on the Italian warships in Bomba Bay, on the Libyan coast, when he himself torpedoed a submarine and the remaining two aircraft accounted for another submarine, a destroyer and a depot ship.

This "brilliantly conceived and most gallantly executed attack," as Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham described it, is related in the official publication "Fleet Air Arm": it is enough to say here that the sinking of four warships with three torpedoes is a feat which is unlikely to be surpassed in naval warfare.

Royal Marine pilots have also been decorated for destroying enemy bombers and shadowers during the passage of the great convoys to Malta.

Albacores In The Desert

From June to November 1942, Major A.C. Newson commanded an Albacore squadron which co-operated with the R.A.F. and the Eighth Army in Egypt and the Western Desert.

The squadron's work consisted mainly in finding and illuminating front-line targets for the R.A.F. bombers, and for its own dive-bombing attacks.

It was also employed for minelaying, raids on enemy-occupied harbours, attacks on ships at sea, and spotting for the many coastal bombardments made by the Mediterranean Fleet in support of the troops ashore.

Throughout this period Major Newson and his comrades shared the difficulties and dangers of operations conducted from temporary landing grounds in the desert, advancing and retiring according to the fortunes of war.

From June until August (when the Eighth Army halted the enemy's advance at El Alamein) the twelve Albacores of the squadron made no less than 370 operational sorties, and their activities continued with equal intensity when General Montgomery attacked in October.

On one occasion Major Newson was piloting one of three aircraft engaged in spotting for a night bombardment of Mersa Matruh harbour by two 6-inch cruisers. On the way to his target the engine started to overheat.

The bombardment was due to start in half an hour, and it soon became apparent that he would either have to return to his base or jettison some of his load to gain the necessary height for spotting.

Rather than go back, he decided to throw out the two long-range petrol tanks and his illuminating flares. Then he was able to gain the required height and carried out the duty assigned to him, in the face of heavy flak, with a slowly-fading engine. The bombardment was successful and for his part in the action Major Newson was awarded the D.S.C.

H.M.S. Victorious

At the beginning of the final phase of the operations in North Africa, the landings at Oran and Algiers in November 1942, a specially-trained fighter squadron of six Fulmars from "H.M.S. Victorious," led by Captain R.C. Hay, D.S.C. R.M. performed most valuable work in Army Co-operation reconnaissance.

They reconnoitred the roads leading to Algiers, photographed bridges and airfields, and often made personal contact with the troops by landing near them.

Besides fighters and torpedo-bombers, Royal Marine pilots also flew the Walrus amphibians, whose chief duty is reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol.

West Coast Of Africa

Once, when a merchant ship had been torpedoed 100-miles off the West Coast of Africa, a Walrus piloted by Captain Cheesman V.B.G. R.M., from "H.M.S. Albatross", was on the scene in ten-minutes. Having counter-attacked the submarine with depth-charges, Captain Cheesman landed near suvivors from the sunken ship.

For hours he taxied to and fro, encouraging men in the water, formed them into groups for greater ease of rescue, and actually towed some of the ships boats to within their reach. More than once he stopped his engine to jump overboard and go to the assistance of a wounded man.

Meanwhile, the sea had risen , until it was too high for the Walrus to take off again, and it had to remain with the boats. After many hours rescue vessels arrived. When all the survivors had been embarked, the Walrus was taken in tow and after an all-night passage reached the shelter of land. The tow was cast off. Captain Cheesman started up his engine and taxied into harbour alongside his parent ship undamaged. He was awarded the M.B.E.

The Royal Marine pilots serve the Fleet with their comrades afloat and ashore. Their numbers have been small, but their services have been so outstanding that the Corps might well hold itself to be entitled to add two words to its motto: Per Caelum-By Air.

Modern-day Pages Fast Boats Pages Joe Wezley Pages

Battle of Britain Pilot

Sam Hall a Battle of Britain Pilot DFC who flew with the RAF was a bit of a character, a cheerful person, a man of many talents.

Sam, proper name Roger Hall started his military career as a tank driver in the Tank Corps. He transferred to the RAF and became a Flight Lieutenant. fighter pilot flying Spitfires.

Sam who lived in London later joined the Royal Marines Reserves. He worked his way up to the rank of Corporal with his lovable character he was liked by everybody.

Although Sam wasn't a Royal Marine Pilot he had "esprit de corps" which the Royal Marines are famous for.

The next Link below will be: "Royal Marines Light Infantry"

Royal Marines Pilots Royal Marines Light Infantry

"Pirates Trilogy" $20