Fred Everest Banbury, (27 October 1893 – 1 April 1918) was a Canadian

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 ...

of 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 ...

, officially credited with eleven aerial victories while serving in the British

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

Early life and education

Banbury was born in

Wolseley, Saskatchewan Wolseley (Canada 2011 Census population 864) is a town in southeast Saskatchewan, Canada, approximately east of Regina on the Trans-Canada Highway. History Wolseley's Provincial Court House building was constructed in 1893 and is the oldes ...

, the only son of Robert Samuel Banbury and Susannah Beatrice (née March). He was educated at schools in Wolseley and Regina before attending Victoria College in 1911–12 and

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

in 1912–14. After graduating he attended

Regina Normal School The Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios are located in Regina, Saskatchewan at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street. Built in 1913, the structure has served as a normal school, military training facility, and fine arts building for ...

, and also worked as a teacher at

Bredenbury Bredenbury is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. It is located northeast of Hereford. The village lies on the A44 road, from Bromyard and from Leominster. The parish had a population of 185 in the 2001 UK census, reducin ...

, before becoming a law student at Regina. Banbury travelled to the United States to enrol at the

Curtiss Flying School A Curtiss Jenny on a training flight Curtiss Flying School at North Island, San Diego, California in 1911 The Curtiss Flying School was started by Glenn Curtiss to compete against the Wright Flying School of the Wright brothers. The first exam ...

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, in March 1916, qualifying with the highest marks ever gained at the school, and was awarded

Aero Club of America The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...

pilot's license No. 507 on 5 June after soloing a Curtiss biplane.

Military service

Banbury then travelled to England to join the

, being commissioned as a temporary flight sub-lieutenant on probation on 28 June 1916. After additional training he was eventually posted to France in March 1917 to serve in No. 9 (Naval) Squadron based at St. Pol. Flying a

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

single-seat fighter Banbury gained his first aerial victory on 31 May 1917, sharing in the driving down out of control of a German two-seater reconnaissance aircraft over

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. The following day he drove down a

Halberstadt Halberstadt (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz (district), Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town ...

reconnaissance aircraft solo. His squadron were then re-equipped with the

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

fighter, and in one of these Banbury shared in the driving down of another reconnaissance aircraft off

Westende Westende is a town in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It lies on the Belgian coast, also called the Flemish coast. It used to be the far west (West-ende: Dutch for west-end) of the is ...

on 25 July. Banbury gained three more aerial victories in September, accounting for an

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reconnaissance aircraft and two

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 ...

fighters. On 1 October 1917 he was promoted to flight lieutenant, going on to gain three more victories over enemy aircraft that month. He was granted the

acting rank An acting rank is a designation that allows military personnel to assume a higher military rank, which is usually temporary. They may assume that rank either with or without the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade, depending on the natu ...

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 ...

on 9 November, and gained his tenth victory on the 23rd.Shores, et al, p. 61. Banbury returned to Canada on leave in December 1917, before returning to England in February 1918, and then to his unit in France in March. He gained his eleventh and final victory, sharing in the capture of a reconnaissance aircraft near Becelaere, on 26 March. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's

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 ...

to form the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and Flight Commander Banbury of No. 9 (Naval) Squadron became Captain Banbury of

No. 209 Squadron RAF Number 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)Rawlings 1978, p. 324. and saw active servi ...

. However, the same day Banbury took off in Camel "B7247" on a practice flight, but suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in flight and crashed. Banbury's award of the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

"in recognition of services at Dunkirk" was

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posthumously on 23 April 1918. Banbury is buried in grave "III.E.5." in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery,

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, France. He is also memorialized in Regina, Canada.Findagrave website https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104797112/fred-everest-banbury Retrieved 30 October 2017.

List of aerial victories

Endnotes

References

* Shore, Christopher, et al. (1990). ''Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915–1920''. Fortress Publications. {{DEFAULTSORT:Banbury, Fred Everest 1893 births 1918 deaths People from Wolseley, Saskatchewan University of Toronto alumni Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Canadian World War I flying aces British military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Canadian military personnel from Saskatchewan Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1918