Wing Commander John William Rayner (19 May 1897 – 8 September 1989) was a British military officer who began his career in the Army during World War I. He became a

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 ...

during the closing months of the war, being credited with five aerial victories. He resumed his military career on 21 September 1929, when he joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers. He continued his service into World War II, joining 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 ( ...

, until he was medically discharged as a wing commander on 21 December 1944. He was then made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Early life

Rayner was born on 19 May 1897 in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

, County Durham, England. He was working as a legal

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...

before enlisting.

World War I

After training as a cadet in the

Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

, Rayner was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) on 14 April 1915, serving in the 1st Battalion,

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

. He was confirmed in his rank, and promoted to lieutenant on 3 November 1915. Rayner relinquished his acting rank of captain in the Fusiliers on 16 January 1917, and on 22 February was appointed a

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/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. Flying officer is immediately ...

(

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

) 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 ...

with the rank of lieutenant, with seniority from 18 January 1917. He first served as an observer in No. 52 Squadron RFC, before training as a pilot, receiving

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

Aviator's Certificate No. 5535 on 10 September 1917, and being appointed a flying officer the same day. Rayner was posted to No. 89 Squadron RFC, a recently formed training unit based at Catterick, Yorkshire, which was eventually disbanded in July 1918 without becoming operational. With the Army's Royal Flying Corps and the

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 ...

having merged to form the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, Rayner then joined No. 60 Squadron RAF, based in France, 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, being appointed

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 'A' Flight on 1 August 1918, with the temporary rank of captain. He gained his first aerial victories on the evening on 5 September when he set one German

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII is a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the '' Fokker-Flugzeugwerke''. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII ...

aflame and drove another down out of control over

Avesnes-le-Sec Avesnes-le-Sec () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also * Chemin de fer du Cambrésis *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord departmen ...

. On the afternoon of 23 October he drove another one down out of control over Salesches, and on the morning of 25 October he set a D.VII afire and drove another one down out of control over

Berlaimont Berlaimont () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana i ...

to become an ace.

Inter-war career

On 17 January 1919, Rayner was transferred to the unemployed list of 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 ...

. In July 1919 he received a

mention in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

from Field-Marshal Sir

Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...

, former Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France, for "distinguished and gallant services and devotion to duty" during the period 16 September 1918 to 15 March 1919. He finally resigned his

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

in the Northumberland Fusiliers on 1 April 1920, retaining the rank of lieutenant. Rayner then returned to his legal studies, and qualified as a solicitor. On 10 September 1929, he returned to his military career, being commissioned as a probationary flying officer in Class A of the Reserve of Air Force Officers. Six years later, on 10 September 1935, he transferred to the Class C reserves.

World War II

He returned to active service during World War II, still serving in the Reserves, in which he was granted the

war substantive Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military lines, such as youth groups, chivalric orders, religious orders, an ...

rank of flight lieutenant on 6 August 1940, and received his second mention in despatches from the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief on 24 September 1941, by which time he had been appointed an acting-squadron leader. He relinquished his commission in the RAFO on 15 September 1943, on joining the

with the rank of flight lieutenant. He was again appointed an acting-squadron leader, and this was made war substantive on 6 March 1944. Two days later, on 8 March, he received his third mention in despatches. Rayner relinquished his commission on the grounds of ill-health on 21 December 1944, but was permitted to retain the rank of wing commander. Shortly afterwards, in the

1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...

, Rayner was made a

. After the war returned to the law, and by the time of his retirement was also a Justice of the Peace. Rayner died on 8 September 1989, his last recorded residence in the town of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

.Principal Probate Registry; London, England; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England, 20 December 1989

References

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, John William 1897 births 1989 deaths People from Gateshead Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force wing commanders British Army personnel of World War I