Three aviators

[rammjaeger]

Dear Forumites,

I need more information about the following three aviators of 29 squadron:

2Lt C V deB [?] Rogers

2Lt E J Pascoe

Lt N A Birks

Instead of the initals I would like to know the first and middle names!

As well I would like to hear more about the 2 OOC victories of Rogers and Pascoe and the downing of Birks on 5 April 1917.

Are combat reports of Rogers and Pascoe available? I am especially interested in the time of the victoriy claims and the time of the loss of Birks.

TIA.

VBR
Rammjaeger

PS: I know Henshaws book The Sky Their Battlefield.

[Graeme]

2nd Lieutenant Cecil Victor De Burgh ROGERS - Albatros scout out of control over Vitry en Artois at 18:35 on 5 April 1917 whilst flying Nieuport A6684

shared with

2nd Lieutenant Eric John PASCOE in Nieuport A6752.

RFC Communique number 82 simply says "An Albatros scout was driven down out of control by Lt C V de B Rogers, 29 Squadron, near Vitry-en-Artois" [no mention of Pascoe].

Also - "An Offensive Patrol of five Nieuports of 29 Squadron fought six HA near Arras and one was driven down out of control" [I believe this refers to 2nd Lt Scott-Foxwell who claimed an Albatros out of control at 19:00 near Douai].

Lieutenant Norman Arthur BIRKS - shot down and taken prisoner on 5 April 1917. I seem to recall there was something about his experiences in an old C&C GB Journal - I'll see if I can identify which volume etc.

Graeme

[rammjaeger]

Thank you, Greame. I would be very grateful if I could get more information about Birks´downing on 5 April 17, especially his own words about the incident!

VBR
Rammjaeger

[Graeme]

Not what I expected to find, but a quick look for Birks on Google brought up the following site:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/special/birks.html

"Birks Drawings
Ref: MS 332

Title: Birks Drawings

Scope: A collection of 102 technical drawings made by Norman Arthur Birks (1892-1989) while he was an engineering student at Bradford Technical College and at the University of Sheffield between 1908 and 1914. Also a collection of 32 scholarship certificates, examination certificates and reports relating to Norman Birks’ technical education between 1908 and 1914 both at the University of Sheffield and Bradford Technical College

Dates: c.1908-1914
Level: Fonds
Extent: 2 boxes
Name of creator: Norman Arthur Birks

Administrative / biographical history:

The collection was donated to the Library in 2004 by Mr. Oliver D. Harris, the grandson of Norman Arthur Birks. It consists of 102 technical drawings made by Norman Birks while studying engineering at Bradford Technical College and at the University of Sheffield between 1908 and 1914, along with a collection of 32 educational certificates dating from 1908 to 1914.

Norman Arthur Birks was born in Bradford on 1st November 1892, and studied at Bradford Technical College from 1908 to 1911. He then studied engineering at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 1914 with an Associateship in mechanical engineering. During World War I, he served with the 9th York and Lancaster Regiment and the Motor Machine Gun Service, and then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He trained at Oxford, Hendon, Doncaster and Catterick, and was posted to France in November 1916 as a pilot in the DH2-equipped 29 Squadron at Izel-le-Hameau. On 5th April 1917, Norman Birks was shot down, wounded, in no-man´s land. He was taken prisoner and treated in hospital until September 1917, when he was transferred to the prisoner of war camp at Holzminden, where he remained until the Armistice.

After the war, Norman Birks returned to engineering and, in 1920 set up in business with his brother Douglas as Abbot, Birks and Co., a company specialising in components for the gas and plumbing industries, of which he remained a director until his retirement in 1970. During World War II, he was second in command of the Air Training Corps squadron at Leatherhead in Surrey. Norman Birks died on 16th June 1989.

(Notes compiled partly from an obituary of Norman Birks by Stuart Tucker in Cross and Cockade International Journal, 21(1), 1990)"

Graeme

[Graeme]

Forgot to post the bit I had been looking for:

Cross & Cockade (GB) VOLUME 9 - 1978, Number 1

POW - Personal Reminiscences : Norman A Birks


Graeme

[rammjaeger]

Graeme,

thank you very much for the biographical data and your support.

VBR
Rammjaeger