Charles George Gass
Encyclopedia
Squadron Leader
Charles George Gass MC
(18 April 1898 – March 1977) was the highest scoring observer ace during the First World War, with a total of 39 victories (16 solo) scored serving as a gunner flying with various pilots. After working in the Post Office between the wars, he was recalled to the Royal Air Force
in early 1940.
, London
in April 1898. He originally joined the 2/24th Battalion, London Regiment
of the Territorial Force
and became a sergeant, the rank he held when he first entered a theatre of war on 25 June 1916.
Copies of these medal cards are also available from ancestry.com (subscription required), only these copies show the additional details on the reverse of the card He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant
in 17th Battalion, London Regiment, and attached to the Royal Flying Corps
from 1917. On 26 March 1918, he was assigned to No. 22 Squadron
as an observer
on Bristol F.2b
s, flying in France. The two seater "Brisfit" had a maximum speed of 123 mph, which made it as fast or faster than most enemy fighters, and was maneuverable to boot. It had a forward pointing Vickers machine gun for the pilot, and one or two Lewis machine guns that could be slid around on their Scarff ring
mount by the observer/gunner to cover a wide field of fire.
down out of control on 22 April 1918. Then he began one of the most spectacular months in World War I aerial warfare.
On 7 May, Gass was gunner on a Bristol piloted by ace Alfred Atkey
; Gass was in Atkey's plane by Atkey's request. They flew one of two Brisfits that took on 20 German scouts. Gass and Atkey destroyed five of the attackers, sending two of them down in burning meteors of falling wreckage.
He nailed another German on the 8th while teamed with John Everard Gurdon
. Then on the 9th, he and Atkey repeated themselves. Once again they flamed two Germans; additionally, they destroyed another German and drove two down out of the battle.
They then reeled off a series of multiple victory days. Two on the 15th; three on the 19th; three more on the 20th; two each on the 22nd, 30th, and 31st; three on the 27th. Gass had scored 28 times in the month, all but one in conjunction with Atkey. No one in World War I scored more victories in a single month. He officially transferred to the nascent Royal Air Force
on 22 May 1918.
Gass and Atkey scored another double on 2 June, which were Atkey's final victories. Then Gass was teamed with Lieutenant Edwin Babbage, and scored twice on the 5th. On 26 July, he shot down another German while teamed with Lieutenant Samuel Thompson.
In August, he was teamed with Lieutenant John Everard Gurdon
, who had been the pilot of the other Brisfit on 7 May. They tallied five wins together, with the last coming on 13 August. Gass was transferred for pilot training soon after, but the war ended before he qualified for his wings.
Gass's final tally totaled 39. Broken down, they amounted to 5 destroyed in flames, including one victory which was shared with other planes; 12 others destroyed; 22 down "out of control".
It was the sort of performance that had garnered multiple decorations for single seat fighter pilots. For Gass, it brought a Military Cross gazetted
on 16 September 1918, the citation read:
He received his MC from King George V
at Buckingham Palace
on 16 November 1918.
s was 95 Flood Street, Chelsea. He married Geraldine Marie Insani in the Fulham
registration district
in the second quarter of 1921. He joined the civil service as a Post Office clerk on 27 June 1922. He joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers as a pilot officer
on 30 March 1925, and was promoted flying officer
on 6 May, he left the reserve on 30 September 1928. His wife petitioned for divorce in 1934, they had had two sons, Geoffrey in 1922 and Donald in 1924.
, and on 1 January 1944, temporary squadron leader. He remarried, to Kathleen Fitzgerald, in the first quarter of 1944. He finally retired from the RAFVR on 10 August 1954, retaining the rank of squadron leader.
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Charles George Gass MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(18 April 1898 – March 1977) was the highest scoring observer ace during the First World War, with a total of 39 victories (16 solo) scored serving as a gunner flying with various pilots. After working in the Post Office between the wars, he was recalled to the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
in early 1940.
Early life and First World War
Gass was born in ChelseaChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in April 1898. He originally joined the 2/24th Battalion, London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
of the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
and became a sergeant, the rank he held when he first entered a theatre of war on 25 June 1916.
Copies of these medal cards are also available from ancestry.com (subscription required), only these copies show the additional details on the reverse of the card He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in 17th Battalion, London Regiment, and attached to the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
from 1917. On 26 March 1918, he was assigned to No. 22 Squadron
No. 22 Squadron RAF
No. 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Sea King HAR.3 and HAR.3A at three stations in the southern United Kingdom. The squadron was originally formed in 1915 as an aerial reconnaissance unit of the Royal Flying Corps serving on the Western Front during First World War...
as an observer
Air observer
An air observer is a British term for a military aircrew member whose duties are predominantly reconnaissance. The term originates in the First World War in the Royal Flying Corps, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force...
on Bristol F.2b
Bristol F.2 Fighter
The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter or popularly the "Brisfit" or "Biff". Despite being a two-seater, the F.2B proved to be an agile aircraft...
s, flying in France. The two seater "Brisfit" had a maximum speed of 123 mph, which made it as fast or faster than most enemy fighters, and was maneuverable to boot. It had a forward pointing Vickers machine gun for the pilot, and one or two Lewis machine guns that could be slid around on their Scarff ring
Scarff ring
The Scarff ring was a type of machine gun mounting developed during the First World War by Warrant Officer F. W. Scarff of the Admiralty Air Department for use on two-seater aircraft...
mount by the observer/gunner to cover a wide field of fire.
Aerial victories
Gass soon showed his proficiency with the Lewis guns. He began by driving an Albatros D.VAlbatros D.V
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....
down out of control on 22 April 1918. Then he began one of the most spectacular months in World War I aerial warfare.
On 7 May, Gass was gunner on a Bristol piloted by ace Alfred Atkey
Alfred Atkey
Alfred Clayburn Atkey MC & Bar was a Canadian First World War pilot.-Early life:Atkey was born in Toronto, Ontario. His family headed west to a town called Minebow, Saskatchewan in 1906. He returned to Toronto to work at the Toronto Evening Telegram as a journalist...
; Gass was in Atkey's plane by Atkey's request. They flew one of two Brisfits that took on 20 German scouts. Gass and Atkey destroyed five of the attackers, sending two of them down in burning meteors of falling wreckage.
He nailed another German on the 8th while teamed with John Everard Gurdon
John Everard Gurdon
John Everard Gurdon, DFC & Bar, , was a British flying ace in World War I credited with twenty-eight victories.-Background:Gurdon attended Tonbridge School in Kent...
. Then on the 9th, he and Atkey repeated themselves. Once again they flamed two Germans; additionally, they destroyed another German and drove two down out of the battle.
They then reeled off a series of multiple victory days. Two on the 15th; three on the 19th; three more on the 20th; two each on the 22nd, 30th, and 31st; three on the 27th. Gass had scored 28 times in the month, all but one in conjunction with Atkey. No one in World War I scored more victories in a single month. He officially transferred to the nascent Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on 22 May 1918.
Gass and Atkey scored another double on 2 June, which were Atkey's final victories. Then Gass was teamed with Lieutenant Edwin Babbage, and scored twice on the 5th. On 26 July, he shot down another German while teamed with Lieutenant Samuel Thompson.
In August, he was teamed with Lieutenant John Everard Gurdon
John Everard Gurdon
John Everard Gurdon, DFC & Bar, , was a British flying ace in World War I credited with twenty-eight victories.-Background:Gurdon attended Tonbridge School in Kent...
, who had been the pilot of the other Brisfit on 7 May. They tallied five wins together, with the last coming on 13 August. Gass was transferred for pilot training soon after, but the war ended before he qualified for his wings.
Gass's final tally totaled 39. Broken down, they amounted to 5 destroyed in flames, including one victory which was shared with other planes; 12 others destroyed; 22 down "out of control".
It was the sort of performance that had garnered multiple decorations for single seat fighter pilots. For Gass, it brought a Military Cross gazetted
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
on 16 September 1918, the citation read:
He received his MC from King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
on 16 November 1918.
Interwar period
Gass ceased to be actively employed by the RAF on 11 April 1919, and relinquished his Territiorial commission in 17th Battalion, London Regiment on 30 September 1921. He lived in South London after the war, the address given for despatch of his campaign medalCampaign medal
A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of the military who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater...
s was 95 Flood Street, Chelsea. He married Geraldine Marie Insani in the Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
registration district
Registration district
A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of administrative region which exists for the purpose of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths and civil partnerships...
in the second quarter of 1921. He joined the civil service as a Post Office clerk on 27 June 1922. He joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers as a pilot officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
on 30 March 1925, and was promoted flying officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
on 6 May, he left the reserve on 30 September 1928. His wife petitioned for divorce in 1934, they had had two sons, Geoffrey in 1922 and Donald in 1924.
Second World War and after
With the Second World War escalating, Gass was recommissioned as a pilot officer in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch, RAF Volunteer Reserve on 8 January 1940. He was promoted war substantive flying officer on 7 September 1940, and confirmed in that rank on 8 January 1941. He was later promoted flight lieutenantFlight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
, and on 1 January 1944, temporary squadron leader. He remarried, to Kathleen Fitzgerald, in the first quarter of 1944. He finally retired from the RAFVR on 10 August 1954, retaining the rank of squadron leader.
External links
- The Aerodrome lists his aerial victories and contains his photograph