Marendaz, 35 Squadron
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The current issue of ‘Aeroplane‘ has an article on Lieutenant DMK Marendaz who claims to have made a significant recce during the battle of Cambrai.
For those who haven‘t seen the Aeroplane article yet, this has a summary (based, clearly, on Marendaz‘s account):
Apparently, 35 Squadron records do not support this, and there is no Casualty Record Card relating to Marendaz‘s ‘crash‘.
My recollection of the details of Cambrai are that the bridge in question was only ‘uncrossable‘ because a British tank went through it. Thus there were British troops on the ground to report the situation, and any air observation would have been, at best, a confirmation. However, the cavalry did spend a lot of time looking for a river crossing, and it does seem that they were unaware of the situation until they arrived…
Hi Nick, His RAF record makes no reference to 35 Squadron, although I may need to have my eyes tested.
Looks as if Marendaz may have ‘sexed up’ his service record to the same extent as Oswald Mosley !
Doesn’t seem to be a medal index card listed: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Marendaz
As you can see on his service record he was with the Expeditionary Force from 3 Oct 1917 to 18 March 1918 so you would have thought his medals would have been issued by the army. Perhaps they were issued by the RAF by mistake. I’ve seen this mistake several times.
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