Tag Archives: Royal Air Force

Archibald Henry Hogarth

Archibald Hogarth was born in June 1877, and had a medical career spanning many decades, both as part of the British military and as a civilian. He attended Westminster School 1891-1896, and although he began his school life as a Town Boy in Ashburnham, Hogarth became a Queen’s Scholar just one year after joining Westminster. He was a keen footballer, and took an active role in the Football Eleven. He attended Christ Church after leaving Westminster, studying psychology.

Undated photograph, Left: Surg. Lt. (Surgeon Lieutenant) Hogarth. Image used courtesy of Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust.

From here he undertook a Doctor of Medicine and completed his studies in 1908. He worked extensively in the public field, working for Lancashire County Council in the Education Department, the Port of London Sanitary Authority and Buckinghamshire Council, where he was Medical Officer of Health.

While an undergraduate he served with the the Buckinghamshire Imperial Yeomanry during the South African War, during which he earned the D.S.O (Distinguished Service Medal). Returning home, he then joined the Oxfordshire Yeomanry and sailed with them to France on September 20th 1914 at the outbreak of World War 1 as a Surgeon-Captain and Medical Officer. He took part in the Battle of Ypres, and remained in the trenches until invalided in 1915.

After a further period of service in France, he was appointed Deputy Assistant Director Medical Services in England, and was swiftly promoted to the rank of Major. He returned to active duty and worked with prisoners of war in Switzerland during 1917, before joining the Royal Air Force in 1918. As part of the Royal Air Force medical team he was sent across the globe, working in the Mediterranean, Egypt, Salonica, and Palestine. At Lemnos he fought for a time almost singlehanded against a devastating outbreak of influenza, and was awarded a Military O.B.E for his work.

He returned to Buckinghamshire in April 1919, but fell ill shortly afterwards. After a lengthy battle with illness, attributed to both fatigue and constant exposure to disease during World War 1, he died on 5th September, 1919.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal, earned by Hogarth in 1919.
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Gilbert Anthony Goodman

Lieutenant Gilbert Anthony Goodman. Original Source: www.iwm.org.uk

Gilbert Goodman was the only son of Alfred William Goodman and Penelope Mary, and was born on the 5th July 1895. He was admitted to Westminster in 1909 and joined Ashburnham House, where he remained until 1913. In 1913, he studied with London University, but swiftly enlisted in the Public School Battalion, before transferring to the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps in 1914. That same year he was made 2nd Lieutenant of the 10th Battalion of the Loyal North Lanes Regiment.

He was sent to the Western Front in 1916, but was mistaken for another officer of the same name and reported as deceased to the War Office in 1917. Despite this mishap, that same year he was wounded in battle and invalided home, proving to be very much alive. During his time in the UK, he joined the Air Force and by 1918 had been gazetted to a permanent lieutenancy in the army. Once he received his wings as a pilot he was sent to the Italian Front, and it is here that he tragically lost his life, killed fighting two Austrian crafts before the rest of the patrol could get to his assistance.

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Gavin Ferguson Young

The tombstone of Gavin Ferguson Young, at the Vaulx Hill Cemetery in France.

Gavin Ferguson Young was born on 8th July 1899. He was brother to Fergus Ferguson Young, who had also attended Westminster school at the turn of the century. Young was admitted to Westminster in September 1913, joining Rigaud’s. In 1917 he became both Head of Water and Monitor for Rigaud’s, before leaving the school in July of that year.

He joined the Royal Naval Air Service a few months later, and became Flight Sub-Lieutenant in March 1918. He then moved to the central branch of the Royal Air Force, becoming an active pilot and Lieutenant in April 1918. He was sent to the Western Front in April 1918, and after many months of operation was killed in action in September that same year.

 

 

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James Benjamin Wallace Wolstenholme

The Gravestone of James Benjamin Wallace Wolstenholme, courtesy of The War Graves Project

James Benjamin Wallace Wolstenholme was born in 1895, the eldest son of James Wolstenholme and Mary Elizabeth Gossling. He joined Westminster School in 1908 and was admitted to Ashburnham House. By 1913 he had enlisted with the Artists’ Rifles, a volunteer regiment of the British Army Reserve. He remained part of the Territorial Force for several years, and in 1915 became Lieutenant Railway Transport Officer. In this role he worked as part of the Royal Engineers, the body responsible for the creation and maintenance of not only British railways, but transport networks across Europe and beyond.

In August 1917 Wolstenholme was transferred to the RFC (Royal Flying Corps). The RFC was a precursor to the Royal Air Force, and remained in place until 1918. Here Wolstenholme trained at the 47th Training Depot Station, based with the North Eastern Training Group in Doncaster. It was while training with the RFC that Wolstenholme was fatally wounded, and he passed away on the 20th August 1918.

 

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Cecil Martin Sankey

Cecil Martin Sankey was the only son of Major William Sankey, of Ealing, and Alice Bertha, daughter of Albert Woecki, of Bayswater. He was born on the 27th September 1897, and was admitted into Grant’s in January 1911.

He was opted to study the ‘Modern’ subjects, and he threw himself into the sports scene at Westminster. He represented the school at both Cricket and Football

He left the school in July 1914, and enlisted in the 9th Battalion, London Regiment. He attended RMC Sandhurst from January 1916, and in August was joined the East Kent Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant. He went out with them to the western front in September 1916.

Cecil was awarded the Military Cross on 12th March 1917. In December of that year, he was attached to the RAF, and he rose to Lieutenant in February 1918.

On the 15th May 1918, he was accidentally killed while flying at Northolt, Middlesex. He is commemorated by a stained glass window in the Church of St Matthew, Ealing Common.

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