Captain Reuben George Hammersley (26 September 1897 – after 1940) 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 eight aerial victories.

Biography

Hammersley was born in Leicester, and worked as a Boot

factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...

Measham Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the National Forest. Histor ...

before the war. He learned to fly, receiving Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 3556 on a

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

biplane at

Wallisdown Wallisdown is a residential and commercial area situated partly in Bournemouth and partly in Poole, in southern England. The appropriate ward is called Wallisdown and Winton West. Geography Wallisdown is situated on the border between Bourne ...

School, Bournemouth, on 14 September 1916, then joined 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 ...

as a cadet, being commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant (on probation) on 3 May 1917, and was confirmed in his rank on 27 July. He was posted to No. 24 Squadron in France, flying an

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 ...

. He gained his first victories on 19 February 1918, when he and Lieutenants Peter MacDougall, Ronald T. Mark and

Andrew Cowper Andrew King Cowper, (16 November 1898 – 25 June 1980) was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Bingara, New South Wales, Bingara, New South Wales, he was educated in the United Kingdom at Eastbourne Colleg ...

, shot down two aircraft over

Servais Servais () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 796 communes in the French department of Aisne. The commun ...

and Bernot. Hammersley went on to account for six more enemy aircraft between 26 February and 20 May 1918, for a total of eight. On 1 September 1918 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 acting rank of captain, and later the same month was awarded the ''Croix de guerre'' by France. Hammersley left the RAF after the war, being transferred to the unemployed list on 25 January 1919.

References

1897 births Year of death missing Military personnel from Leicester Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) {{RAF-bio-stub