top of page
Admin

British Airmen - Ypres Reservoir Cemetery

Grave I.E.15 2nd Lieutenant John MacHaffie. 29 Squadron RFC. KIA 21.9.17. Grave I.E.16 2nd Lieutenant Robert Dudley Wilson McKergow. 5th Dragoon Guards attached 29 Squadron RFC. Age 19. KIA 21.9.17. Son of Lt. Col. R. W. McKergow, O.B.E., M.F.H., and Mrs. J. E. M. McKergow, of Twineham Grange, Twineham, Sussex. They had been on a patrol and were returning to land at their airfield near Poperinghe when they collided in mid-air.


Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Ypres Salient. Battlefields Belgium. Flanders
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Authors image.

Grave I.H.44 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Penrose Heald. Pilot. 6 Squadron RFC. Age 25. KIA 13.10.17. Son of Mrs. S. J. Heald, 37, Victoria Park Road West, Canton, Cardiff, and the late George Thomas Heald. Flying in an RE8 on an Artillery Observation Patrol. The engine was shot up in combat with Leutnant Karl Gallwitz, Jasta 2. They were forced to land south of Wieltje. Heald was KIA. His observer, Flight Sgt Halstead, was uninjured. They were Gallwitz fourth victory.

Leutnant Karl Gallwitz. Ypres Salient. Battlefields Belgium. Flanders
Leutnant Karl Gallwitz

Leutnant Karl Gallwitz - originally flew a Roland D.III for artillery observation on the Russian Front, being credited with shooting down two observation balloons with Flieger Abteilung 37, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class for this exploit. He then spent a short time, 13 to 24 August 1917, with Jasta 29. On 24 August 1917, he joined Jasta Boelcke in France. He scored three times in October; the last one, on the 27th, was over Arthur Rhys-Davids DSO, MC of 56 Squadron, who had shot down Werner von Voss. By April 1918 he had ten victories including bringing down British aces Robert Kirby Kirkman and John Herbert Hedley of 20 Squadron. He was injured in a crash soon after. Once he recuperated from his injuries, he was assigned to Inspekteur der Flieger. From 1919 he studied Mechanical engineering in Braunschweig, Danzig, and Stuttgart. He Professor for agricultural machinery at the University of Göttingen, where he taught from 1936 to 1965. He died, aged 88, in 1984 in Göttingen.



Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Ypres Salient. Battlefields Belgium. Flanders
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery



Grave I.I.95 10013 Air Mechanic 1st Class Ernest Alfred Snelling. 3 Wing RFC attached 1 Heavy Battery, Canadian Artillery. Age 23. KIA 6.11.17. Son of Charlotte and the late William John Snelling, 37 Grosvenor Road, Brentford.














Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Ypres Salient. Battlefields Belgium. Flanders
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Authors image




Grave II.D.12 50212 Air Mechanic 1st Class Cyril Belram Haigh.10 Squadron attached 100 Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. Age 20. DoW 13.10.18. Son of Walter and Sarah Haigh, 2 Mayfield Terrace, Grange-over-Sands, Lancs.













Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Ypres Salient. Battlefields Belgium.  Flanders
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Authors image

Grave X.F.38 Captain Eric Waterlow MC, DFC. Pilot. 25 Squadron RAF. KIA 16.7.18. Resided at Hyde Park, London. He was flying a DH4, D8380, on a photo reconnaissance patrol over Tournai. His observer Lt JM Mackie was also KIA. Shot down over Pilkem by Leutnant Franz Piechulek Jasta 56. His body was exhumed from a battlefield cemetery and reburied her. Initially, he was unknown however, he was identified from his collar badge, plate, and ribbon.


Leutnant Franz Piechulek - He was assigned to Kampfeinsitzerstaffel 5 on 27 October 1917. He scored his first aerial victory there, downing a Nieuport on 22 November. He then moved on to Jagdstaffel 41 on 14 December. On 5 January 1918, he set an enemy observation balloon on fire for his second victory. Four days later, he moved to Jagdstaffel 56 to pilot an Albatros D.Va or a Fokker D.VII. He arrived the same day as his new Staffelführer, Franz Schleiff. Between 5 March and 4 October 1918, Piechulek had a further twelve victories outlasting both Schlieff and his replacement, Dieter Collin. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.

8 views0 comments

Comments


Commenting has been turned off.
bottom of page