Reginald Theodore Carlos Hoidge MC & Bar (28 July 1894 – 1 March 1963) was a Canadian

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 ...

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 ...

, officially credited with 28 victories. He served initially in the Canadian Royal Garrison Artillery before transferring to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

to be attached 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 ...

, and then the new

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 ...

on its creation in 1918.

Early life

Hoidge was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He was the son of John R. and Lovida Hoidge. He originally served with the Canadian Royal Garrison Artillery.

Aerial service in combat

Hoidge transferred to the British Army, taking a commission in the (British)

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

(

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Ri ...

), and was attached to the Royal Flying Corps, as a second lieutenant on 15 November 1916. He was posted to No. 56 Squadron to fly a Royal Aircraft Factory SE 5 fighter in 1917. He flew this aircraft for all his victories. His first victory was over 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 5 May 1917. He sent it down out of control over Montigny, France. The first of three victories on 24 May made him an ace. In an evening hour's roving battle, he sent an

Albatros D.II The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. After a successful combat career in the early '' Jagdstaffeln'', it was gradually superseded by the Albatros D.III. Design and development Albatros designers Robert Thel ...

down out of control for score number five, set another German plane on fire for number six, and finished up the day by driving down another D.III as victim seven. He was promoted to temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 1 June 1917, and later confirmed in that rank from 11 July 1917. 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 ...

on 18 July, the citation read: On 22 August, he was appointed a

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 ...

, with the rank of temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Hoidge continued downing enemy aircraft until 31 October 1917, when his total stood at 27. During this stretch of success, his most memorable battle was one in which he did not score. He was one of the seven aces involved in

Werner Voss Werner Voss (; 13 April 1897 – 23 September 1917) was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories. A Dyer (occupation), dyer's son from Krefeld, he was a patriotic young man while still in school. He began his milita ...

's last stand on 23 September, when Voss in his

Fokker F.I The Fokker F.I (company designation V.5) was a prototype fighter triplane by the (Fokker Aircraft Company) during the First World War for the Imperial German Army's () Imperial German Air Service (). An improved version of the Fokker V.4, V.4 p ...

fought all the British fliers to a standstill, damaging all the attacking SE 5s. Hoidge's final total included 23 successes over enemy fighters and only five over opposing two-seater reconnaissance planes. His 28-claim tally comprised eight destroyed (including a shared victory), and 20 'out of control' victories (including two shared).

Later life

Hoidge was returned to England for a year's duty as an instructor. He was awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

to his MC on 18 March 1918, the citation read: He returned to the front as a flight commander in his old unit and scored a final victory on 29 October 1918. He relinquished his commission on 1 April 1920, and was permitted to retain the rank of lieutenant. He died in New York City on 1 March 1963.

References

Notes

Citations

* ''British and Empire aces of World War I''.Christopher Shores, Mark Rolfe. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoidge, Reginald Theodore Carlos Canadian aviators Canadian World War I flying aces Royal Flying Corps officers Military personnel from Toronto 1894 births 1963 deaths Royal Artillery officers Canadian recipients of the Military Cross