Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith (10 April 1884 – 1951) was a British World War I

fighter 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 22 aerial victories. Roxburgh-Smith was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

in 1916, aged 32. After pilot training, he was injured and assigned flight instructor duty but he returned to combat duty in early 1918 with the 74th Squadron. Roxburgh-Smith was promoted to lieutenant, flight commander, and then acting captain. During World War I, Roxburgh-Smith destroyed 17 aircraft and shot down 5 others. After the war, Roxburgh-Smith emigrated to Southern Rhodesia. He farmed for several years before obtaining a private pilot's licence. Roxburgh-Smith worked as a pilot before raising funds to start the Rhodesian Aviation Syndicate, which was eventually absorbed into

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

. In 1932, Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith was appointed Superintendent of the

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Municipal Aerodrome. Roxburgh-Smith enlisted again for service in World War II, receiving an emergency commission in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

in 1940 at the age of 55. He was subsequently promoted to flight lieutenant in 1940, relinquishing his commission in 1943.

Early life and military service

Roxburgh-Smith was born in

Lee, London Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. It was in Kent bef ...

, on 10 April 1884. By the time World War I broke out he was working as a

bank teller A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. T ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, then still in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Though a married man with two children, and old enough to be nicknamed "Dad", he initially joined up as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

Inns of Court Regiment The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR) was a British Army regiment that existed under that name between May 1932 and May 1961. However, the unit traces its lineage back much further, to at least 1584, and its name lives on today within 68 (Inns of Cour ...

, which was then functioning as an

officer cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

unit. Roxburgh-Smith was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the

on 12 August 1916. After completing pilot training he was posted to No. 60 Squadron RFC. In 1917, he was injured in the crash of a

Nieuport Scout The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) is a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier Ni ...

. Upon his return to service, he was assigned to flight instructor duty.

Combat duty

Roxburgh-Smith returned to combat duty in early 1918 to fly SE.5as with No. 74 Squadron RFC. He was promoted to lieutenant on 12 February 1918, and flew in

Mick Mannock Mick is a masculine given name or nickname, usually a hypocorism of Michael (given name), Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in the English-speaking world as an List of ethnic slurs, ethnic slur for Irish people. In A ...

's "A" Flight. He destroyed his first enemy, an

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 ...

, on 12 April 1918, in conjunction with Mannock and three other pilots. By 26 May, he was an ace, destroying his fifth consecutive enemy fighter aircraft. After scoring his eighth victory on 19 July, he was shot down, suffering minor injuries in the process. He returned to duty, and having been appointed a

flight commander A flight commander is the leader of a constituent portion of an aerial squadron in aerial operations, often into combat. That constituent portion is known as a flight, and usually contains six or fewer aircraft, with three or four being a common ...

with the acting rank of captain on 4 August 1918, he shot down four enemy aircraft in both August and September, and in October five; two on 5 October, and three on 14 October, rounding out his score at 22. His final count was 14 opposing fighters destroyed (two shared with other pilots); four fighters driven down out of control; three two-seater reconnaissance planes destroyed (one shared), and one reconnaissance aircraft driven down out of control. This made Roxburgh-Smith the third highest scoring ace out of the seventeen in No. 74 Squadron, after

and James Ira Thomas Jones.

List of aerial victories

African aviation pioneer

Roxburgh-Smith emigrated to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

(now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

) in 1920. He farmed for several years near the capital of

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

. While he was farming, civil aviation struggled to establish itself in the country. In September 1926, he sold the farm and returned to England. Once there, he brushed up on his flying skills, and obtained a private pilot's license, after joining London Aeroplane Club. Upon his return to Rhodesia in June 1927, he accepted a job flying as second pilot on an aerial survey for the

Aircraft Operating Company The Aircraft Operating Company was a British aerial photography company, that took over Aerofilms in 1925. In 1940, its staff and equipment were requisitioned by the Air Ministry, and in 1944 the company itself was taken over by Hunting Aerosurveys ...

. To garner the job, he qualified as the first South African commercial pilot at

Roberts Heights Thaba Tshwane is a military base (or military area) in Pretoria, South Africa. Units and facilities The oldest building in the complex is the South African Garrison Institute, what is now known as the Army College. Lord Kitchener laid the corn ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. He was employed on the survey through February 1928. Once again, he moved to England, only to return to Rhodesia in February 1929. This time, he had the backing of Cobham-Blackburn Airlines, which was dedicated to establishing civil aviation routes the length of Africa, from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. With this backing, he was able to raise enough local financial aid to start the Rhodesian Aviation Syndicate, which was eventually absorbed into

. Roxburgh-Smith resigned from the new company in May 1931, with the aim of working for

Glen Kidston George Pearson Glen Kidston (23 January 1899 – 5 May 1931) was an English motor racing driver and aviator who completed a record-breaking flight from Netheravon, Wiltshire to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1931. He was one of the " Bentley Boys ...

. The latter was independently wealthy, and wanted in on South African aviation. Kidston's death in an air crash on 5 May scotched that plan, so Roxburgh-Smith returned to England on 1 June. In 1932, Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith was appointed Superintendent of the

Municipal Aerodrome (later renamed Belvedere Airport).

World War II service

Roxburgh-Smith returned to service in World War II, having first joined the

Southern Rhodesian Air Force The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the ...

, he received an emergency (for the duration of hostilities) commission in the

on 1 March 1940 as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

, at aged 55. He was subsequently promoted to flight lieutenant on 20 September 1940. He eventually relinquished his RAFVR commission, and was transferred to the Southern Rhodesian Air Force Reserve of Officers on 1 October 1943. Roxburgh-Smith died in Rome, Italy, in 1951 while on a tour of Europe.

Honours and awards

;Distinguished Flying Cross :Lieutenant (Temporary Captain) Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith. ::"This officer has shot down six enemy aeroplanes during the last few months. Bold in attack, skilful in defence, he is a valuable airman." (1 November 1918) ;Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross :Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith, DFC. ::"A leader of outstanding merit whose influence has had a great effect on maintaining the morale of his squadron. He has engaged in many combats with hostile aeroplanes, displaying marked skill and courage. Since May last he has accounted for twelve hostile machines." (7 February 1919) ;''

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 ...

'' (Belgium) :Captain Benjamin Roxburgh-Smith, DFC. ::"For valuable services rendered in connection with the war." (20 February 1919)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roxburgh-Smith, Benjamin 1884 births 1951 deaths People from Lee, London Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces British recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Commercial aviators