Captain John De Camborne Paynter was a World War I Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

 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 10 aerial victories. He earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his valour before being killed in a bombing raid.

Early life

Paynter was born in Southsea, Hampshire on 17 May 1898. His mother was Alexandra Laura Paynter.

World War I

Paynter was injured in a flying accident on 9 April 1917. After his recovery, he flew with 9 Naval Squadron; it was while flying with them that he scored his first aerial victory on 27 October 1917. He then transferred to 13 Naval Squadron; he would remain with them through their transition to 213 Squadron RAF. On 5 December 1917, he scored a win with them.

On 1 January 1918, he was promoted from Flight Sub-Lieutenant to temporary Flight Lieutenant

Flight 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"...

. He also scored three wins in the early months of 1918. After a break, he scored the remainder of his victories in May and early June 1918.

While doing this, he was wounded in action on two occasions. He died on 6 June 1918 from wounds suffered during a German bombing raid on his squadron's aerodrome. He is buried in Plot IV. A. 78 in Dunkirk Town Cemetery, Belgium. He is also memorialized at Saint Peter's Church, Portsmouth, on a plaque located under the organ loft.

Distinguished Service Cross

As his award citation shows, Paynter performed admirably in air-to-ground combat as well as in the air:

List of aerial victories

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	2 October 1917 @ 1040 hours	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...  fighter serial number B3830	Albatros D.V Albatros 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....  fighter	Driven down out of control	Slijpe, Belgium	Victory shared with Merrill Samuel Taylor, Fred Everest Banbury Fred Everest Banbury Captain Fred Everest Banbury was a Canadian flying ace during World War I. While flying for the Royal Naval Air Service, he was credited with 11 official aerial victories.-Early life:... , Francis Mellersh Francis Mellersh Francis Mellersh was an English amateur cricketer who made 11 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1815 until 1830.-External sources:*... , Stearne Tighe Edwards Stearne Tighe Edwards Stearne Tighe Edwards DSC & Bar was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 17 victories. He was seriously injured in a crash the day after Armistice Day, and died from his injuries 10 days later.... , and four other pilots
2	5 December 1917 @ 1505 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B6391	Albatros reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	4 miles northwest of Wenduine	Victory shared with George Chisholm MacKay George Chisholm MacKay George Chisholm MacKay DFC was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 18 victories.-Websites:... , John Pinder John Pinder John Pinder, born 6 January 1945 in Timaru on the South Island of New Zealand, is an Australian comedy producer and festival director who has produced band performances, run live venues and founded three Australian comedy festivals... , Maurice Cooper Maurice Cooper Captain Maurice Lea Cooper was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.Although Irish-born, Cooper was educated in York....
3	29 January 1918 @ 1400 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B3782	Seaplane Seaplane A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...	Destroyed	100 yards from the pier at Blankenberghe, Belgium	Victory shared with John Edmund Greene John Edmund Greene John Edmund Greene DFC was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 15 victories. Greene was shot down by Carl Degelow on 4 October 1918, but survived to be shot down and killed 10 days later.... , Leonard Slatter Leonard Slatter Air Marshal Sir Leonard Horatio Slatter KBE, CB, DSC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a naval aviator during World War I and a senior Royal Air Force commander during World War II. Slatter ended his career as the commander-in-chief of Coastal Command.-Early life and World War I:Slatter was born in Durban,... , George McKay, Maurice Cooper
4	30 January 1918 @ 1420 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B3782	Albatros recon plane	Destroyed	2 miles north of Ostend Ostend Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....	Victory shared with Miles Day Miles Day Flight Commander Miles Jeffery Game Day was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.Day was already an experienced test pilot when he joined 13 Squadron RNAS on 19 December 1917. He scored five victories while flying a Sopwith Camel. His first win came on 3 January 1918, and...
5	19 February 1918 @ 1355 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B3782	Seaplane	Destroyed by fire	East of Ostend	Victory shared with Miles Day, three other pilots
6	6 May 1918 @ 1950 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B7254	Albatros D.V fighter	Destroyed	Wenduine, Belgium
7	8 May 1918 @ 1950 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B7254	Albatros D.V fighter	Destroyed	Wenduine, Belgium
8	8 May 1918 @ 1950 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B7254	Albatros D.V fighter	Driven down out of control	Wenduine, Belgium
9	1 June 1918 @ 1420 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B7254	Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.III |-See also:-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Grosz, Peter M. Pfalz D.IIIa . Berkhamsted, Herts, UK: Albatros Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-94841-425-1.* Guttman, Jon. Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ...  fighter	Driven down out of control	Bruges Bruges Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.... , Belgium	Victory shared with four other pilots
10	1 June 1918 @ 1420 hours	Sopwith Camel fighter s/n B7254	Pfalz D.III fighter	Driven down out of control	Bruges, Belgium	Victory shared with another pilot.

Endnotes