No.9 Kite Balloon Section, R.F.C. March to early June 1916
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Hello everyone,
I am doing some background research into Captain Frank Hubert Smith, who I believe commanded this section during the time period specified, before being RTU‘d to his former Territorial Army regiment, reputedly for telling his Company Commander, Major MacNeece (later Air Vice Marshal William Foster MacNeece Foster, CB, CBE, DSO, DFC no less!), exactly what he thought of him and in unflattering terms.
A look through the records listed at the National Archives says that the diary for this unit is available for that time period, but not online, and as I live in New Zealand I‘ve no way of getting to it. Does anyone perhaps have a copy of this diary – I know it‘s a long shot but thought I‘d ask?
Thanks,
Peter
Peter, |LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT||LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|Should you have no luck with your request, Lee Richards ARCRE service could camera copy the diary pages you need at The National Archives, Kew, London for a reasonable price. Just type ARCRE into Google to view his website for details. I have used his services often over the last few years and found his service to be excellent. |LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT||LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|Errol
That|Q|s very kind of you Andrew, thank you. I am in no hurry so the 17th would be fine.|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|
So is it just AIR 1|FRONTS|1529|FRONTS|204|FRONTS|72|FRONTS|1 thro to |FRONTS|4?|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|What about AIR 1|FRONTS|423|FRONTS|15|FRONTS|253|FRONTS|1 and AIR 1|FRONTS|163|FRONTS|15|FRONTS|129|FRONTS|1|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT||LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|By 1917 they were part of 6 Company, 2 Balloon Wing. Do you know which Wing they were part of in 1916?|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|There are some Wing and Company files available
It would just be AIR 1|FRONTS|1529|FRONTS|204|FRONTS|72|FRONTS|1 thro |FRONTS|3 probably, as Shaw was RTU|Q|ed in late May 1916, and file |FRONTS|4 is for June 1916. The other refs you sent are RNAS and he certainly wasn|Q|t with them. Before becoming a KB observer and KB Section Commander, Shaw was a Captain in the West Riding Territorials (from pre|MINUS|war) and thus Army. Also, his service pre|MINUS|dates the formation of KB Wings, and he was RTU|Q|ed before any of these were formed.|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT||LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|Another oddity I|Q|ve discovered about Shaw is that his AIR 76 file is listed under the name |LEFT|b|RIGHT|Francis Harold|LEFT||FRONTS|b|RIGHT| Shaw and the personal details are incorrect, but the record of transfers etc. are spot on! It seems that some clerk at the time made a monumental howler and added his details to someone else|Q|s record, or duplicated the Shaws as there was an Airman by the name in the RFC as well. My man|Q|s real name was |LEFT|b|RIGHT|Frank Hubert|LEFT||FRONTS|b|RIGHT| Shaw, the well|MINUS|known (at the time) author of sailing and maritime books.
I|Q|m down at Kew Peter|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|Files have been copied |MINUS| I|Q|ll send them to you on Friday
Hi Peter|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|I|Q|ve reduced the files and they are ready to send.|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|The CO was FH Shaw rather than FH Smith|LEFT|br |FRONTS||RIGHT|I can|Q|t see how to send a pm on this forum, so could you send an email address to me at [email protected] so I can send the images
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