Captain Reginald Milburn Makepeace 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 17 aerial victories.

Early life

Makepeace's father was a printer and compositor named John P. Makepeace. His mother was Mary A. Makepeace née Milburn. Reginald Makepeace emigrated to Canada in 1908. He was living in Montreal from 1911 until he enlisted in the military.

World War I flying service

Makepeace was assigned to No. 20 Squadron as a pilot flying a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d on 8 June 1917. He scored his first victory on 29 June 1917, with ace Lieutenant Melville Wells Waddington as his observer gunner. Makepeace triumphed seven more times in the FE.2d, with his eighth win coming on 17 August 1917. He then moved into a Bristol F.2 Fighter

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...

 when the squadron re-equipped, and he and Waddington were the first to score with the new plane when they flamed an 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....

 on 3 September. He would score six more times during 1917 flying the Bristol, notching his 15th win on 22 December. Aces George Brooke

George Brooke

George Brooke may refer to:*George Brook , English cricketer*George H. Brooke , American football player and coach...

, John Stanley Chick

John Stanley Chick

Air Commodore John Stanley Chick, MC, AFC , began his aviation career as a World War I flying ace credited with 16 aerial victories.-World War I service:...

, and John H. Hedley all flew in the rear seat with Makepeace and scored at various times.

Makepeace was killed in a flying accident at Turnberry

Turnberry

Turnberry is a golf resort on the coast of the outer Firth of Clyde in southwestern Scotland. Located in South Ayrshire on the rugged coast, it comprises three links golf courses, a golf academy, a five-star hotel, designed by James Miller and completed in 1906, as well as lodge and cottage...

Aerodrome on 28 May 1918.

Reference

• Pusher Aces of World War 1" Jon Guttman, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Pub Co, 2009. ISBN 1846034175, 9781846034176.