Lieutenant Gavin Lynedoch Graham was a World War I flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with thirteen confirmed aerial victories.
Graham served with the Hussars from April 1915 through August 1916 before transferring 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...

. He put in 200 hours flight time as an observer in 70 Squadron before being sent to pilot's training in March 1917. On 14 December, he was assigned to 73 Squadron as a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 pilot. He scored his first win on 3 May 1918, scored steadily, and on 19 July he became an ace. His next victory, two days later, came during a squadron patrol that destroyed a Fokker Dr.I

Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

 triplane, and was shared with Major Maurice Leblanc-Smith

Maurice Leblanc-Smith

Major Maurice Leblanc-Smith was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.Leblanc-Smith was the son of Stanley le Blanc Smith and his wife Amy Harris and was christened Maurice Smith...

, Lieutenant William Sidebottom

William Sidebottom

William Sidebottom was an English Conservative politician who represented High Peak.Sidebottom was born at Hollingworth, Cheshire the son of William and Agnes Sidebottom, and came from a family that was associated with cotton mills...

, Lieutenant William Stephenson

William Stephenson

Sir William Samuel Stephenson, CC, MC, DFC was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid...

, Second Lieutenant Robert Chandler

Robert Chandler (aviator)

Lieutenant Robert North Chandler was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.-References:...

, and two other pilots, with every pilot credited with a win. He would not share a triumph again until his eleventh on 8 August; then he teamed with Chandler and Captain Emile John Lussier

Emile John Lussier

Captain Emile John Lussier was an American flying ace during World War I. He was accredited with eleven confirmed aerial victories while flying with the Royal Air Force.-Early life and service:...

 to destroy an enemy two-seater reconnaissance plane, for his sole win over a two-seater. On the 25th, he destroyed a Fokker D.VII

Fokker D.VII

The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...

 and teamed with another British pilot to drive down another one out of control. Graham finished his war with over 250 flight hours as a pilot, nine destroyed enemy machines to his credit, three enemy fighters driven down out of control, and one enemy plane captured. On 2 November 1918, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, being lauded as:

Reference

• Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, 9780948817199.