Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Francis Richard Cubbon (26 November 18929 June 1917) was an

aerial observer Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush, and that album's title track * "Aerials" (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands * Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) ...

and

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 ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In conjunction with his pilots, he was credited with 21 aerial victories.

Early life and service

Francis Richard Cubbon was the only surviving son of his parents' marriage. His father was Captain Richard Cubbon, a supply and transport officer of the Indian Army. Cubbon was born in London,Franks ''et.al.'' (1997), p. 12. but spent most of his youth in

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India.Guttman & Dempsey (2009), p. 78. The young Cubbon was educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

and

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

before attending and graduating from the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

.Aeronautics (1918), p. 288. He was posted to the Indian Army as a second lieutenant on 6 September 1911. His first assignment was to the

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. He subsequently was appointed to the

72nd Punjabis The 72nd Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1759, when they were raised as the 16th Battalion Coast Sepoys. History The regiment's first battle was the Battle of Sholinghur in 1781, du ...

on the

North-western Frontier The North-West Frontier (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) was a region of the British Indian Empire. It remains the western frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and sepa ...

of India, on 1 December 1912. He was promoted to lieutenant on 6 December 1913, and to captain on 6 September 1915. In November 1915, he was invalided home.

Service in Royal Flying Corps

Like so many invalided and convalescent land soldiers of the First World War, Cubbon volunteered for flight duty and was accepted as an observer on 25 March 1917. By

Bloody April Bloody April was the (largely successful) British air support operation during the Battle of Arras (1917), Battle of Arras in April 1917, during which particularly heavy casualties were suffered by the Royal Flying Corps at the hands of the Germ ...

, 1917, he was assigned to 20 Squadron as an observer in

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 ("Farman Experimental 2") designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day a ...

Frederick Libby Captain Frederick Libby (15 July 1891 – 9 January 1970) became the first American flying ace, while serving as an observer in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. Libby transferred to the United States Army Air Service on 15 September 19 ...

, the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

's first ace, gave a vivid description of an observer's duties aboard the aircraft that was an incremental development of the pre-1914 Farman Experimental: And Libby did not even mention the hazards of spilling overboard with a propeller chopping along behind the crew. Cubbon scored two victories on 24 April 1917 with Lieutenant R. E. Johnson in F.E.2 number A6392. He then flew with Captain Frederick Thayre for the next six weeks and claimed some nineteen victories. Seventeen of these were over German

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 ...

single-seated fighters. Upon Captain

Albert Ball Albert Ball, (14 August 1896 – 7 May 1917) was a British fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories, and remained its fourth-highest scorer b ...

's death on 7 May, Cubbon became the second ranking ace of the Royal Flying Corps.Greenhous (2002), pp. 99–100.

Killed in action

On 9 June, two days after scoring their final victory together, Cubbon and Thayre attacked an Albatros two-seater and sent it down in a smoking nose dive. They were then

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

by a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire from K Flak Battery 60 near

Warneton Warneton (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Bounding communes and places *Warneton, Belgium (part of Comines-Warneton) * Comines, east * Quesnoy-sur-Deûle, southea ...

.Shores ''et.al.'' (1997), p. 360. A German message drop confirmed their deaths to the British authorities, but their graves remain undiscovered.Guttman & Dempsey (2009), p. 82. The nineteen victories shared included five Albatros D.IIIs shot down in flames and eleven destroyed, an

Albatros An albatross is one of a family of large winged seabirds. Albatross or Albatros may also refer to: Animals * Albatross (butterfly) or ''Appias'', a genus of butterfly * Albatross (horse) (1968–1998), a Standardbred horse Literature * Albat ...

reconnaissance two-seater in flames and another destroyed. Another D.III was claimed driven down 'out of control'. Cubbon also added his two victories with Johnson—a D.III destroyed and one 'out of control'. Cubbon received both 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 ...

on 11 May and a Bar in lieu of a second award on the 16th, both being gazetted posthumously on 18 July 1918.

Awards and decorations

;Military Cross :Captain Francis Richard Cubbon. Indian Army, attached Royal Flying Corps. :For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has shown great pluck and determination when acting as observer, on several occasions displaying fine marksmanship and coolness against superior numbers of the enemy. ;Bar to the Military Cross :Captain Francis Richard Cubbon, MC. Indian Army, attached Royal Flying Corps. :For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When acting as an observer on an offensive patrol, he displayed great skill and courage against superior numbers of the enemy. Throughout the action he backed up his pilot with a remarkable display of marksmanship.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * *

External links

* Contains a detailed list of his victories. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cubbon, Francis 1892 births 1917 deaths Military personnel from London People educated at Alleyn's School People educated at Dulwich College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Indian Army officers York and Lancaster Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Indian Army personnel killed in World War I Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I