










 | |
| Name: | Lanoe George Hawker | Country: | England | Rank: | Major | Service: | Royal Flying Corps | Squadrons: | 6, 24 | Victories: | 7 | Born: | 30 December 1890 | Place of Birth: | Longparish, Hampshire | Died: | 23 November 1916 |  | Place of Death: | South of Bapaume |
| |
| | Hawker was the first ace of the British Commonwealth. An aggressive combat pilot, his motto was "Attack Everything!" Flying a B.E.2c armed with a few bombs and hand grenades, he successfully attacked the Zeppelin shed at Gontrode in April 1915 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. An engineer, he devised a mount for attaching a Lewis gun to the Bristol Scout. While testing his invention, he chased off one German aircraft and drove down two others. For this action, he was the first pilot to receive the Victoria Cross for aerial combat. Hawker was killed in one of the longest dogfights of the war. Flying the Airco D.H.2, he engaged an Albatros D.II behind German lines and was shot down by Manfred von Richthofen. Hawker was the Red Baron's eleventh victim. |
| Distinguished Service Order (DSO) |
| "For conspicuous gallantry on 19 April 1915, when he succeeded in dropping bombs on the German airship shed at Gontrode from a height of only 200 feet under circumstances of the greatest risk. Lieutenant Hawker displayed remarkable ingenuity in utilizing an unoccupied German captive balloon to shield him from fire while maneuvering to drop the bombs." London Gazette, 8 May 1915 |
| | "For most conspicuous bravery and very great ability on 25 July 1915. When flying alone he attacked three enemy aeroplanes in succession. The first managed eventually to escape, the second was driven to the ground damaged, and the third, which he attacked at the height of about 10,000 feet, was driven to earth in our lines, the pilot and observer being killed. The personal bravery shown by this officer was of the very highest order, as the enemy's aircraft were armed with machine guns, and all carried a passenger as well as a pilot." London Gazette, 24 August 1915 |
| Manfred von Richthofen's Combat Report |
| "I attacked, together with two other planes, a Vickers one-seater at 3,000 meters altitude. After a long curving fight of three to five minutes, I had forced down my adversary to 500 meters. He now tried to escape, flying to the front. I pursued and brought him down after 900 shots." Manfred von Richthofen |
| |
|