POST NUMBER 2500 - SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE INDEED
Well August 3rd 2014 seems a long time ago now, since then we have had 2500 posts and 161332 views. So its as good a time as any to say a few thank you's. Firstly to Rob who helped me get this off the ground in the early months of the war, when we were struggling to find anything happening at all, and more recently to Neil who has shared the workload as the war has intensified and the editor's job has taken up more and more time. Thanks also for all of you who have added extra articles and snippets of information from time to time, when we have missed something or ran out of time to include. Lastly a big thank you to everyone who has read and continues to read this piece.
19th June 1917
A bit like the last few days here in most of the UK, looks like the weather back in 1917 was just as warm and stifling, you only need to look at the casualty figures to realise we are going through something of a lull at the moment. Most of the focus on the Western Front is around the build up to events of 31st July - the 3rd Battle of Ypres - better known as Passchendaele
We have some busy days ahead - not least 31st July when 14 Victoria Crosses are awarded on the one day - more than the first day of the Somme....
Lets start today with the death of the Russian Ace Podpolkovnik (Lt. Colonel) Yevgraph Nikolaevich Kruten
Podpolkovnik Yevgraf Nikolaevich Kruten was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He began World War I as an aerial observer with three years experience in military aviation. After a year's seasoning, he was recommended for, and graduated from, pilot's training in September 1914. He rose through the ranks, to be appointed as his unit's commander on 6 June 1916. With his victory tally at three, he was forwarded to service with the French Aéronautique Militaire. While learning French aerial tactics, Kruten shot down a German aircraft during February 1917. After his return to Russia in March 1917, he shared his new-found knowledge in a flurry of booklets on military aviation. He commanded his battle group of three detachments, and ran his victory total to seven before dying in a landing accident on 19 June 1917.
Yevgraf Kruten was born into a family with a military tradition; both his father and his mother's father were colonels. He entered the world on 29 December 1890 in Kiev. In 1901, aged 11, he attended the Kiev Military Cadet Corps School. He was forwarded to horse artillery in 1908 as an ensign. In 1911, he was commissioned with the rank of podporuchik upon graduation from Konstantin Artillery School. In April 1912, he was transferred to Kiev. He was selected in June 1913 for a study of the potential use of heavier-than-air by the Imperial Russian Army. The test of five airplanes was conducted by the leader of the pilot contingent at Brovary, Pyotr Nesterov. Kruten was required to fly as part of Russia's maiden attempt at artillery spotting. The several flights he took sparked his interest. He found his way to the Third Air Company, which was located at Sviatoshyn Airfield in Kiev near his duty station. By August 1913, he was flying as an aerial observer in military maneuvers. He made six flights in foggy rainy weather with Nesterov, including one at night. As a result of his friendship with Nesterov, the aviator wrote a letter recommending Kruten's admission to aviation training.
Kruten was one of the spectators when Nesterov flew the first aerial loop in history on 9 September 1913. In January 1914, Kruten began aviation training at the Katchinsky military school near Sevastopol. His natural talent can be seen in his flying his own loops on 23 August 1914. Kruten graduated as a military pilot in September 1914.
At the outbreak of war, Kruten began flying reconnaissance and bombing missions as a member of the 21st Corps Air Detachment. He reached the front and began flying combat in October 1914. He flew reconnaissance and bombing missions; by February 1915, he had flown over 40 sorties without crossing paths with any enemy aircraft. He switched to the 2nd Army Air Detachment; when he scored his first aerial victory on 6 March 1915, piloting a Voisin he was awarded the Order of Saint Anne Fourth Class. His observer/gunner, Captain Ducimetier of the General Staff, both shot down the plane and confirmed the victory. The successful duo flew back through crippling antiaircraft fire that stopped their engine and forced their landing near the Russian 2nd Caucasian Corps.
The following month, April 1915, saw Kruten fly more than 25 long range missions. On the 18th, he partook in his unit's first night bombing sortie. Kruten continued to serve in the unit as it was redesignated as the 2nd Fighter Aviation Detachment. On 5 June, Captain Ducimeter was again his observer when they suffered a runaway propeller on their aircraft. Kruten got them home safely; the staff captain's report on the incident recommended Kruten's promotion to Captain. A month later, he received his captaincy, as well as the Order of St. Vladimir Fourth Class with Swords and Ribbon.
In early 1916, Kruten's unit re-equipped with Nieuport 11s. During his orientation on the new machine, he realized that other pilots were unready for aerial battle. For them, Kruten wrote the first of several little pamphlets on the subject. It defined the assault sequence as: Altitude—Speed—Maneuver—Fire.
In April 1916, Kruten was ordered to Smolensk to test fly aircraft for the new fighter groups being formed. He was brought back to Smolensk a second time, on 20 May 1916. He was given command of the brand new 2nd Boevaya Aviatsionnaya Gruppa (Battle Aviation Group) on 6 June. When the group was formed from the detachments from the 3rd, 7th, and 8th Corps, it was still short pilots. It would not be completed and committed to action until late July 1916; it reached its base at Nesvizh on 7 August. Kruten led from the front, scoring two more victories in August 1916. On 13 November, he was selected as one of a party assigned to the Western Front for cross-training with French aviators. He was posted to Pau in January 1917; later, he transferred to the flying school at Cazau. In February, he was serving with Felix Brocard's Escadrille 3; he was credited with a victory while with them. He returned to Russia in March 1917, after hearing of Czar Nicholas's abdication. The French had awarded him a Croix de guerre for his victory.
The assignment to the French left him of the opinion that, "There is nothing about flying that we could learn from foreigners...." When he arrived back in Russia on 24 March 1917, he began writing a pamphlet, Invasion of Foreigners, protesting French aid to the Russians. This was the second of his pamphlets on Russian use of air power; he wrote at least eight booklets on the subject. In the meantime, he reassumed command of the 2nd BAG in early April 1917. The group was equipped with a mix of Nieuport 17 and Nieuport 21 fighters. One of each was reserved for Kruten's use. Both Nieuport 17 serial number 2232 and Nieuport 21 number 4572 were marked with Kruten's insignia of a medieval knight. From mid-April 1917, his Battle Group was stationed in Plotych, ten kilometers north of Tarnopol. Kruten threw himself into combat, leading from the front. On 30 May 1917, for instance, he fought six times without result. Interspersed with his dogfights were photo-reconnaissance and artillery adjustment missions. He would score three more victories during May and June 1917. His final victory, on 6 June 1917, was unusual; he ran out of fuel during his attack, but still managed to down his foe while gliding to a forced landing.
On 19 June 1917 at 0925 hours, while returning from a combat mission, as his landing Nieuport sank through 100 meters altitude, Yevgraf Kruten spun in and crashed. Once removed from the wreckage, he lingered only a short while after the crash. He was posthumously promoted to Podpolkovnik. He was buried at the Nicholsky Military Cathedral in Kiev. In 1930, he was reinterred[3] in Luk'yanovskoe Cemetery, still in his native Kiev.
There were 9 British airmen who fell on TUESDAY JUNE 19TH 1917
Sergeant Appleton, S.C. (Stanley Chalmers) No.2 School of Aerial Gunnery RFC
2nd Lt. Buntine, W.H.C. (Walter Horace Carlyle) Royal Naval Air Station, Dunkerque RFC
2nd Lt. Clarke, N.V. (Nicholas Vincent) 57 Reserve Squadron RFC
2nd Lt. Davies, A. (Albert) 55 Training Squadron RFC
Lt. MacAskill, W.R. (William Ross) 20 Squadron RFC
Flt. Sub Lt. Potvin, J.E. (James Edward) Royal Naval Air Station, Dunkerque
Obs Officer Rogers, T. (Thomas) RNAS
Air Mech 2nd Class Slingsby, T.E. (Thomas Edwin) Royal Naval Air Service, H.M.S. 'President II'
Air Mech 3rd Class Stock, A.W. (Alfred William) No.2 Kite Balloon Section Royal Flying Corps
The following aerial victory claims were made on this day...
Jean Chaput France #5
Stefan Fejes Austro-Hungarian Empire #4 u/c
Julius Kowalczik Austro-Hungarian Empire #5
Josef Pürer Austro-Hungarian Empire #6 u/c
Jean Chaput France #12
Joseph de Sevin France #4
Robert Delannoy France #3
Otto Kissenberth Germany #5
Karl Odebrett Germany #2
Flavio Baracchini Italy #7
Guglielmo Fornagiari Italy u/c
Gastone Novelli Italy #2
Major Ronald Graham Seaplane Defence Flight, 13N (RNAS)
The son of William Graham, Ronald Graham was educated at St. Joseph's College, Yokohama and Castle Douglas Academy in Scotland. He was commissioned a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 25 May 1915 and promoted to Flight Sub-Lieutenant in September 1915. He received Royal Aero Club Certificate 2041 on a Grahame-White biplane at Grahame-White School, Hendon on 15 November 1915. Graham was posted to the Dover Seaplane Station in early 1916; to Seaplane Base, Dunquerque, 8 June 1916; O.C. Seaplane Defence Flight, Baby-St. Pol, 30 June 1917; and was commanding officer of 213 Squadron from May 1918 until the end of the war. He received a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force as Captain on 1 August 1919. Post-war, he remained in the R.A.F. and retired as Air Vice-Marshal on 29 June 1948. Listed as Ronald Grahame in the London Gazette.
The Seaplane Defence Flight
Formed originally from the Seaplane Defence Flight, which was itself founded in June 1917 at Dunkirk, it was reorganized as No. 13 Squadron RNAS on 15 January 1918. As the SDF, it operated Sopwith Pups. When the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, it was renumbered as 213 Squadron. In this incarnation, it flew Sopwith Baby floatplanes and transitioned to Sopwith Camels. It was during this time that the squadron derived its Hornet insignia and motto for the squadron badge, after overhearing a Belgian General refer to the squadron's defence of his trenches, "Like angry hornets attacking the enemy aircraft". The Hornet became affectionately known as "Crabro," latin for hornet. The squadron's official motto became, "Irritatus Lacessit Crabro" (The Hornet Attacks When Roused). In March 1919 the squadron went back to the UK where it disbanded on 31 December 1919.
During its wartime existence, the squadron had 11 flying aces serve with it, including such notables as John Edmund Greene, Colin Brown, George Chisholm MacKay, Leonard Slatter, Maurice Cooper, Miles Day, Ronald Graham, John Paynter, John Pinder, and George Stacey Hodson.
417 British Lives were lost on this day
Today’s highlighted casualties include:
Lieutenant Colonel Wigram Clifford DSO (Northumberland Fusiliers) is killed in action at age 41. He is the son of Major General R M Clifford.
Captain Norman Cairns Robertson (Hampshire Regiment) dies of wounds as a prisoner of war at age 40. His brother was killed in July 1916.
Captain Joseph Arthur Brearley (Devonshire Regiment attached Royal Engineers) is killed at age 27. His brother was killed in April 1916.
Lieutenant Cuthbert Farrar Savage (Northumberland Fusiliers) is killed at age 26. He is the son of Canon E Sidney Savage.
Lance Corporal Reginald Taylor (Wellington Regiment) is killed in action. He was a member of the 1913 All Blacks Rugby Football Club.
Secretary William Webster Sant (Young Men’s Christian Association) dies of dysentary at El Arish on service in Egypt at age 25. He is a USA Rhodes Scholar of Lincoln College Oxford from Kenyon College USA.
Corporal William Leslie Bradfield (London Regiment) commits suicide at age 24 by jumping out a window before he is to take up a posting as a Second Lieutenant in the Berkshire Regiment. His brother will be killed by a sniper in September 1918.
Captain Tunstill's Men: There were thunderstorms in the morning but the weather became fine later. The Brigade horse show was held during the afternoon and would be described by Brig. Genl. Lambert (see 16th June) as a “huge success”. In a letter to his wife he also added that, “the last event was a mule race over the hurdles, a comic event of course, but most thrilling!”.
There were three victories for 10DWR; Maj. Charles Bathurst (see 15th June) and Temp. Major. Hugh William Lester MC (see 16th June) won the team jumping in pairs event; the Battalion team won the Lewis Gun competition, in which they were required to unload and dismantle the gun before then re-assembling the gun ready for action; and there was also a victory in the event in which a limber and pair had to be driven between marker pegs. After the event Lambert and Lester dined with the officers of 10DWR.
Four officers of the Battalion pictured at the Brigade Horse Show; from left, Capt. Cecil Berry (see 15th June), Maj. Charles Bathurst (see above), Capt. Leonard Norman Phillips MC (see 15th June) and Capt. Adrian O’Donnell Pereira
Western Front
Small British advances on Arras front.
Southern Front
Italian offensive on Asiago plateau; ground gained on Mt. Ortigara.
Political, etc.
British peerages conferred by the King on Teck and Battenberg families.
The French submarine Ariane was one of eight Amphitrite-class submarines built for the French Navy during the 1910s and completed during World War I.
During World War I, Ariane was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Bizerta, French Tunisia, on 19 June 1917 by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-22
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