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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: SteveKNS on Wednesday 01 May 19 12:52 BST (UK)
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I've attached an extract from the first page of my cousin George Cecil Rhodes' RAF service record and I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on the aircraft that he flew. He transferred from the RNAS in 1918 - his flying record started in 1921 and ended in 1936 when he retired.
The record states that he flew "Avro B.F. DH9A Snipe (ACR27) Atlas (ACR31) Wapiti (ACR32) Siskin Hart (ACR33) Bulldog (ACR35)". There also seems to be a "to" (or maybe an ampersand) between "B.F." and "DH9A" - if it's "to" then I don't know what that means.
I also don't know what the "ACR" codes mean so would appreciate some help with that too.
This is my first attempt at identifying the aircraft listed:-
Avro (unnamed, but possibly the 504) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_504
Bristol Fighter - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_F.2_Fighter
DeHavilland DH9 - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH.9
Sopwith Snipe (ACR 27) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopwith_Snipe
Armstrong Whitworth Atlas (ACR 31) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth_Atlas
Westland Wapiti (ACR 32) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wapiti
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth_Siskin
Hawker Hart (ACR 33) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hart
Sopwith Bulldog (ACR 25) - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopwith_Bulldog
Any suggestions/corrections much appreciated.
Steve
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Hello Steve,
I would go with your first thoughts except for the Bulldog which I suggest could well be the Bristol Bulldog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bulldog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bulldog)
As to ACR and the numbers I have no real ideas except that ACR might simply be shorthand for AirCRaft...
Regards,
Paul
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Thanks Paul - much appreciate the suggestion.
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Definitely Bristol bulldog Steve,that's a fantastic list of aircraft he flew from the WW1 types right
through to the Hart and Bulldog which were among the last biplane's the RAF flew frontline up to the
start of the war(the Gladiator actually was still in front line use in the early war year's) I wonder what he would have made of the Spitfire and Hurricane fighter's entering service as he retired?
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Thanks for the confirmation, Steve. George was a very interesting character and I regret not meeting him - he died when I was only a few years old. He was a motor designer/engineer by trade and worked for Henry Royce and Frederick Lanchester before joining the RNVR in WW1. He then transferred to the RNAS where he worked on aircraft engines as well as the Lanchester and Rolls Royce armoured cars.
He transferred to the RAF in 1918 and learned to fly in 1921; he started as a flight lieutenant and was promoted to squadron leader in 1928. He retired in 1936 but came out of retirement in 1940/41 to work as chief engineer in the ATA at RAF Sealand near Chester. His ATA records seem to have been lost, unfortunately.
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Certainly an interesting career Steve,I had wondered due to his experience whether he was re-called
for service during WW2.
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Flying those aircraft (some good some not so good) for so long it is remarkable that he survived for his retirement.
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He certainly seems to have been a pretty indestructible type - I have several reports of wrestling injuries, explosions in workshops, and motor car/bike accidents. And he lived until he was 82 years old...
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Agree with the comments from stevej60 and barryd. Very interesting career.
I wonder if you have tried contacting the Maidenhead Heritage Centre that houses the ATA Museum to see if they have anything on his WWII activities http://maidenheadheritage.org.uk/contact-the-ata-museum/ (http://maidenheadheritage.org.uk/contact-the-ata-museum/)
There are references to his RAF service in the London Gazette and Flight Global archives if you have not seen them but they probably do not add anything more that you already have from his MOD record.
Paul
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Thanks Paul - I tried the Maidenhead ATA museum but they couldn't find anything. They said that quite a few officers' records are missing, unfortunately.
I hadn't checked the Flight Global archives, so thanks for the tip - will check that now.
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I think I had the wrong Wikipedia link for the third aircraft in the list (DH9A) - this is probably the Airco DH9A: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco_DH.9A
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Have you considered the ACR(xx) may refer to the year of pilot certification. It seems to fit quite well with the chronology of the stated aircraft introductions.
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You might be on to something there, so thanks for that. I've just checked the service record again and found a couple of other places where ACR codes are used - see attachments.
The first attachment shows the education and qualifications, with his former occupation of motor car designing being assigned an ACR123 (or possibly ACR/23) code. He worked as a motor car designer from 1906 to 1914/15, so I can't see how that relates to the time period unless he didn't receive recognition for that until 1923.
The second attachment is an extract from his medical board notes; I've omitted the medical condition, but you can see the board dates, classification and remarks - the latter has ACR references i.e. ACR 1925, ACR 1926-1934 and ACR 1935 and these correspond with the dates of the medical conditions.
I've searched for the ACR acronym but haven't found anything definite. The closest was "Appointments, Commissions & Rewards" that I found on a Canadian air force website.