Captain William Ernest Reed was an English 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 nine aerial victories. He continued in his nation's military service as late as 1938.

World War I

On 25 June 1915 Corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 William Ernest Reed of the Durham Fortress Engineers of the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

 was commissioned 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...

.

After transfer 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...

, Reed's first combat assignment was with 19 Squadron. He claimed his first aerial victory while on a bomber escort mission, on 14 April 1917. He scored again eight days later, but was wounded by ground fire in the process. On 10 May 1917 Flight magazine reported Reed as wounded in action

Wounded in action

Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....

. A week later, Flight noted that Reed had been mentioned in despatches.

On 30 April 1918 Flight reported Reed's promotion "while employed" as a temporary captain. He returned to France for his second tour of combat, flying this time for newly formed 92 Squadron. He scored seven aerial victories with them. He was wounded again on 3 November 1918. His exploits earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, which would not be gazetted until 8 February 1919:

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	14 April 1917 @ 1200 hours	Spad Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés SPAD was a French aircraft manufacturer between 1911 and 1921. Its SPAD S.XIII biplane was the most popular French fighter airplane in World War I.-Deperdussin:...  serial number A6753	German reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	Douai Douai -Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
2	22 April 1917 @ 0715 hours	Spad s/n B1563	Albatros reconnaissance plane	Set afire; destroyed	South of Quiéry-la-Motte Quiéry-la-Motte Quiéry-la-Motte is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Quiéry-la-Motte is situated northeast of Arras, at the junction of the D39 and D48 roads...	Reed wounded in action Wounded in action Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....  by ground fire
3	25 August 1918 @ 1115 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D6959	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...	Destroyed	South of Armentières Armentières Armentières is a commune in the Nord department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. It is part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, and lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of Lille, on the right bank of the river Lys....
4	5 September 1918 @ 1100 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D6959	Fokker D.VII	Destroyed	Southwest of Cambrai Cambrai Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
5	23 October 1918 @ 1300 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n C1142	DFW DFW DFW may refer to:*Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport*Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a metropolitan area in north Texas*Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources*Division of Fisheries and Wildlife...  reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	South of Pont-du-Nord	Victory shared with James Robb James Robb (RAF officer) Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb GCB, KBE, DSO, DFC, AFC, RAF, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. After early service in the First World War with the Northumberland Fusiliers, Robb joined the Royal Flying Corps and became a flying ace credited with seven aerial victories... , Evander Shapard Evander Shapard Lieutenant Evander Shapard was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.-Reference:... , James Victor Gascoyne James Victor Gascoyne Second lieutenant James Victor Gascoyne was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.-Citation for Distinguished Flying Cross:2nd Lieut. James Victor Gascoyne... , Thomas Stanley Horry Thomas Stanley Horry Lieutenant Thomas Stanley Horry was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories.-References:... , four other pilots
6	23 October 1918 @ 1330 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n C1142	DFW reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Northeast of Englefontaine Englefontaine -References:*...
7	29 October 1918 @ 0930 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n C1142	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	Northeast of Forêt de Mormal Forêt de Mormal The Forêt de Mormal is a forest in France, near the Franco-Belgian border. It is best known to the British for its role in the retreat from Mons in August 1914. Its lack of passable roads forced I and II Corps of the British army to divide and the two corps did not reunite for some days.- External...
8	29 October 1918 @ 1030 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n C1142	Fokker D.VII	Destroyed	East of Le Quesnoy Le Quesnoy Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Le Quesnoy's inhabitants are known as Quercitains.- Economy :The town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold...
9	29 October 1918 @ 1030 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n C1142	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	East of Le Quesnoy

Post World War I

On25 March 1921 Reed gave up his temporary commission in the Royal Air Force upon his appointment into 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:...

; he retained the courtesy rank of Captain. He was accepted back into the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 with seniority from 31 March 1921. He surrendered that commission on 8 July 1921. On 7 October 1921, he was appointed as a Captain in the Engineers.

On 15 October 1938 Reed resigned his captain's commission in the Royal Engineers. His fate past this point is unknown.

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 0948817194, 9780948817199.

Endnotes

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