Lieutenant Arthur Frederick Britton (2 October 1888 – 19 February 1919) was a World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with six aerial victories.

Biography

Britton was born in

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

, London, the son of Frederick and Ellen Britton. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry) regiment on 27 November 1915, and on 13 March 1916 he was transferred to the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1917, and was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Posted to No. 57 Squadron, flying the

Airco DH.4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was desig ...

, as an observer/gunner, he gained his first victories on 3 July 1917 with pilot Captain Laurence Minot, shooting down two

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service () during World War I. A modified licensed version was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (''Luftfahrtruppen''). The D.III was flown ...

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Zonnebeke Zonnebeke (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of , , Passendale, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), Zandvoorde and Zonnebek ...

. On 7 July, with pilot Lieutenant A. D. Pryor, he shot down another D.III north-east of

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

, before his transfer to the Royal Flying Corps was officially gazetted on 12 July. Finally, on 27 July, with Minot again, he shot down three

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft of the German aircraft manufacturer ''Albatros Flugzeugwerke''. It was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service with the (Imperial German A ...

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Houthulst Houthulst (; , ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality consists of the sub-municipalities Houthulst, Jonkershove, Klerken and Merkem. On January 1, 2006, Houthulst had a total population of 9,051. ...

. On 20 August 1917 he was seriously wounded and had his left leg amputated. On 1 January 1918 he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

, and on 18 April 1918 he received permission to wear the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

awarded to him by the French government. Britton relinquished his commission on account of ill-health caused by his wounds on 28 September 1918. He died from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

on 19 February 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Arthur Frederick 1888 births 1919 deaths People from Balham Somerset Light Infantry officers Machine Gun Corps officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) English amputees Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in England Military personnel from the London Borough of Wandsworth British Army personnel of World War I