Captain Reginald Carey Brenton Brading (14 May 1899 – 26 July 1926) was a British 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 thirteen confirmed aerial victories.

Early life

Reginald Carey Brenton Brading was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

on 4 May 1899.

Career

Brading joined 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 ...

on 12 June 1917, just a month past his eighteenth birthday. He trained in an operational squadron, 12 Naval, before being posted to 1 Naval in April 1918 as 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 ...

pilot. On 2 May, he scored his first aerial victory when a squadron patrol caught a luckless German reconnaissance plane north of

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and Brading,

Samuel Kinkead Samuel Marcus Kinkead DSO, DSC & Bar, DFC & Bar (25 February 1897 – 12 March 1928) was a South African fighter ace with 33 victories during the First World War. He went on to serve in southern Russia and the Middle East postwar. Early lif ...

, Hazel Wallace, and four other pilots sent it down out of control for a win apiece. On the 15th, Brading gained a second victory in similar fashion, teaming with Kinkead, Wallace,

Charles Dawson Booker Major Charles Dawson Booker (sometimes hyphenated into Dawson-Booker) (21 April 1897 – 13 August 1918) was an English World War I fighter ace credited with 29 victories. He was promoted to high rank while relatively young as a result of his ...

, Robert McLaughlin, Maxwell Findlay,

James Henry Forman Captain James Henry Forman DFC (1 February 1896 - 4 October 1972) was a World War I Canadian flying ace credited with nine aerial victories. He was personally decorated by his king for his valor. After leaving military service in the 1920s, he ...

, and two other pilots to destroy an Albatros D.V to add to all their scores. Brading also received a second victory that day, for his solo win in driving a second Albatros D.V down out of control. His fourth triumph came on 9 June, when he drove a DFW reconnaissance plane down out of control. On 28 June, he became an ace by driving down another Albatros D.V. From there on, Brading's wins were always over the best German fighter planes,

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 ...

s and a Pfalz D.XII. The only curiosity among them was the last pilot downed plummeted to his death in one of the pioneering uses of a parachute; that was on 16 September 1918. A summary of his victories shows Brading was credited with five enemy airplanes destroyed, including that first shared one; eight driven down out of control, including the shared second win.

Honors and awards

Text of the citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

Lieut (T./Capt.)"Reginald Carey Brenton Brading. This officer has accounted for seven enemy machines—two shot down in flames and five out of control. In addition he has displayed marked skill and bravery in attacking troops and transport. Four times in one day he engaged troops, etc., on the roads with machine-gun fire, inflicting casualties and causing great confusion.

Text of the citation for the Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross (in lieu of second award)

Lieut (A./Capt.) Reginald Carey Brenton Brading, D.F.C. (FRANCE) An exceptionally keen and daring patrol leader who has accounted for five enemy machines during the last month. On 2 September, while leading his flight, he observed twelve Fokker biplanes, which he at once engaged, driving one down out of control. Later, on the same day, he engaged a formation of Fokkers that were harassing our corps machines, causing one to crash. This officer's skill and bravery have proved a great incentive to the other pilots of his squadron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brading, Reginald Royal Naval Air Service aviators People from Croydon 1899 births British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) 1926 deaths