Captain James Hart Mitchell was an English 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 11 aerial victories. He 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 ...

during the war; he returned to his home regiment afterwards.

World War I

Mitchell originally served in the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

before his transfer to the

in 1917. After training, he was assigned to 28 Squadron, where he met budding ace Billy Barker. After his first three wins in France while flying a

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 ...

, the squadron transferred to the Italian Front. Mitchell scored eight more wins before being transferred out of combat duty in July 1918. When Barker was promoted to

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 ...

of C Flight despite having no experience of formation fighting, the more experienced Mitchell, already serving as a deputy Flight Commander, felt cheated. He eventually was promoted to the position, however. During his tour of combat duty in Italy, Mitchell was awarded the Military Cross on 18 February 1918, although it would not be gazetted until 18 July 1918:

...When on patrol work, on four separate occasions, he has shot down five enemy planes, three of which were observed to burst into flames, one being a large three-seater. On two of these occasions his formation was attacked by superior formations of the enemy. His magnificent work has been marked by great dash and fearlessness.

He was also awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, which was awarded on 2 July 1918, gazetted 21 September 1918. The Italian government also expressed its gratitude for his service; on 2 November 1918, he was awarded Italy's Bronze Medal of Military Valor.

Post World War I

On 2 February 1919, Mitchell was placed on the Royal Air Force's unemployed list. On 6 June 1919, he gave up his RAF commission to return to ground duty with the army. On 30 September 1921, Mitchell gave up his army commission.

References

* Franks, Norman ''Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1: Volume 52 of Aircraft of the Aces''. Osprey Publishing, 2003. , . * Ralph, Wayne. ''William Barker, VC: The Life, Death and Legend of Canada's Most Decorated War Hero'' John Wiley and Sons, 2007. ,

Endnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, James Hart 1899 births Essex Regiment officers Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Military personnel from Hereford Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Year of death missing