Captain Franklin Geoffrey Saunders (born 3 June 1891, date of death unknown) was a Welsh 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 eight aerial victories.

Military service

Saunders was serving as a sub-lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

when he was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 721 after soloing a Bristol biplane at the Bristol School at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

on 1 January 1914. On 27 January he was posted to HMS ''Pembroke'', the shore establishment at Chatham, while attending a course of instruction at the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school in the world. The sch ...

, as a probationary sub-lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

. Soon after the outbreak of the Great War, he transferred to the Army, as he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant on the General List on 9 September 1914. At some point between then and late 1916 Saunders was seconded to 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 ...

, as on 14 January 1917 he gained his first aerial victory while serving in No. 47 Squadron in northern Greece. Flying a B.E.12 single-seat fighter he shared in the forcing down and capture of 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 ...

Type C reconnaissance aircraft over Lahana with Second Lieutenant Gilbert Green. Further victories followed, and in mid-March he drove down a

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

G over Karasoúli, and destroyed an Albatros C west of Dovista, and in June destroyed an

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 ...

. On 4 June 1917, now a lieutenant, 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 ...

"for distinguished service in the field". He then transferred to No. 17 Squadron to fly the

S.E.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

single-seat fighter, where in January 1918 he captured a DFW C at Porna, and destroyed a

Rumpler Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer. History Founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p. ...

C north-north-east of Kajendra, then on the afternoon of 5 February he drove down an Albatros D.III at Vernak Farm, and sent a DFW C down in flames north-west of

Topolčani Topolcani () is a village in the Prilep Municipality of North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to ...

. In March 1918, now an acting-captain, he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross, which was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 23 August. His citation read: :Temporary Captain Franklin Geoffrey Saunders, MC, Royal Flying Corps. ::"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On three separate occasions during a month he has fought a hostile machine, pursued it over the enemy's lines and driven it down to earth, where it was completely wrecked. He has shown the most consistent gallantry and skill in action." Saunders was transferred to the unemployed list after the war, but was restored to the active list with the rank of flight lieutenant for temporary duty between 12 April and 4 June 1921.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Franklin 1891 births Year of death missing Military personnel from Swansea Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross British World War I flying aces Royal Naval Reserve personnel