| Hawker was the first ace of the British Commonwealth. An aggressive combat pilot, his motto was “Attack Everything!” Flying a B.E.2c armed with a few bombs and hand grenades, he successfully attacked the Zeppelin shed at Gontrode in April 1915 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. An engineer, he devised a mount for attaching a Lewis gun to the Bristol Scout. While testing his invention, he chased off one German aircraft and drove down two others. For this action, he was the first pilot to receive the Victoria Cross for aerial combat. Hawker was killed in one of the longest dogfights of the war. Flying the Airco D.H.2, he engaged an Albatros D.II behind German lines and was shot down by Manfred von Richthofen. Hawker was the Red Baron’s eleventh victim. |
The Great War Flying Museum 