RFC special mission in March 1917 in Russia???
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Fellowes force landed a JN4 at Hendon on 5.2.1917, and overturned a Bristol Scot at Redcar on 17.3.1917, before taking over as OC of 2(Naval) on 1.4.1917. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for going to Russia ?
According to Meinertzhagen, a intelligence officer who never let the fact ruin the retelling of a good story, “On July 1st everything was ready and the plane took off. Success was not complete and I find it too dangerous to give details. One child was literally thrown in to the plane at Ekateringburg, much bruised and brought to Britain where she still is.” The Czar and Czarina were too well guarded to be rescued, but their children (2 women & 3 teenagers) supposedly were.
So, this begs the question as to what sort of aeroplane the RAF had which was capable of carrying this many people and flying to Russia and back, without refuelling ?
There is nothing in Fellowes’ service record to suggest that he would be chosen to fly anything other than a single-engined aircraft, and certainly nothing like an O/400.
I’ve just signed up in hopes someone might have specialist knowledge of RFC 1917 Russia. I am a historian working on a book about the failed Romanov asylum of 1917. Evidence passed to me suggests there was some kind of RFC mission to provide personnel to help escort the Imperial Family to safety, probably out via Tornio into Sweden and Norway. i.e. a very early evacuation plan, not some silly half baked rescue fantasy (of which there are many!). There are lots of barmy myths about planes being sent to ‘rescue’ the Romanovs – but this is not one of them. I think the planes element has been misinterpreted and refers to personnel flying in and out to assist – in this case in or out of Sweden or Finland perhaps. I have two names linked in this mission and a possible third. The first two I can definitely connect, as this is confirmed in Victor Kulikov’s article in C&C vol 28 no 3.. Both I am sure from other evidence I have were definitely in Russia at the time – i.e. March 1917: Capt Stephen Berthold Gordon Smith and Acting Major James Valentine. Another name has been suggested but I can find nothing to substantiate him being sent into Russia at this time tho family legend insists he was: an RNAS pilot – Squadron Commander Peregrine HM Fellowes. I would love to hear from anyone who has ever come across any whisper of any undercover RFC or RNAS missions in this regard in March 1917, as I am clutching at straws! I would value any clues at all, however tenuous. Apparently Gordon Smith left diaries and letters testifying to this but this were all destroyed.
According to Malcolm Barrass’ Air of Authority:
Peregrine Forbes Morant b: 23 Dec 1883 r: 26 Oct 1910/17 Jul 1933 d: 12 Jun 1955DSO – 1 Jan 1918, Bar – 8 Feb 1919, MiD – 16 Dec 1919, .
(RN): – Mid’n: xx xxx 1898, Act Sub-Lt: 30 Aug 1903, Sub-Lt: 10 Apr 1905, Lt: 30 Aug 1904, Lt Cdr: 30 Aug 1912/30 Aug 1915, Flt Cdr: 17 Dec 1915, Sqn Cdr: 30 Jun 1916, Wg Cdr: 31 Dec 1917.
(RAF): – (T) Lt Col: 1 Apr 1918, Wg Cdr: 1 Aug 1919 [1 Apr 1918], Gp Capt: 1 Jan 1922, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1929.
xx xxx xxxx: Attended Britannia Naval College.
xx xxx 1898: Midshipman, Royal Navy.
30 Aug 1903: Officer, Royal Navy
10 Apr 1905: Confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.
26 Oct 1910: Retired from Royal Navy
xx xxx 1914: Officer, Royal Navy.
30 Aug 1915: Pilot, RNAS.
1915 Gunnery Staff Officer, Gunnery and Bomb Section, Air Department, Admiralty.
1 Apr 1917: Officer Commanding, No 2 Sqn RNAS.
1 Nov 1917?: Officer Commanding, No 1 Wing RNAS.
1 Apr 1918: Officer Commanding, No 61 Wing.
28 May 1918: Prisoner of War
xx Nov 1918:
1 Aug 1919: Awarded Permanent Commission as a Lieutenant Colonel
xx May 1920: Awaiting disposal, HQ Middle East Area.
7 Jul 1920: Officer Commanding, ‘Q’ Force HQ, Middle East Area
6 Dec 1920: Staff Officer, HQ Palestine Group.
1 Jan 1922: Chief Staff Officer, HQ RAF Middle East.
22 Sep 1922: Supernumerary, Constantinople Wing. (Chanak Crisis)
xx xxx 1922: Officer Commanding, Constantinople Wing. (Chanak Crisis)
2 Oct 1923: Chief Staff Officer, RAF Middle East. (OC until 27 Nov)
16 Jun 1924: Supernumerary, RAF Depot.
1 Jul 1924: Director of Airship Development.
1 Jul 1929: Director of Personal Services.
1 Jul 1929: Relinquishes his appointment as Air ADC to HM The King.
6 Sep 1930: AOC, No 23 Group.
30 Sep 1932: Placed on half pay list, Scale A
He was born at St Kilda in Victoria, Australia, although his parents were English, his father being in the country to assist with the reform of the Australian Army. After attending the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth he joined the Royal Navy in 1898, retiring from in 1910. He then went into business with a Ludvig Friedrich Brenner as a patentee and manufacturer, but in 1912, the partnership was dissolved and he left the business to Ludvig Brenner. Rejoining the Navy on the outbreak of war in 1914, he gained RAeC Certificate No 1697 on 5 Sep 1915.
Leading a raid in DH4, A8065 against the lock gates at Zeebrugge, on 22 May 1918, he was wounded and forced to crash land in the North Sea. Rescued by the Germans he spent the remainder of the war as a POW, later receiving a Mention in Despatches for valuable services whilst in captivity. On 11 August 1919, he was attempting a flight to Africa in the single Felixstowe Fury Flying Boat (N123), when it crashed on take off, all on board were uninjured except the W/T operator, who drowned.
Whilst serving in the Middle East he surveyed and opened the world’s first regular air route between Cairo and Baghdad. In 1933 he was selected to lead the 1933 Everest Air Expedition, which successfully made the first flight over the world’s highest mountain using specially adapted Westland Wallaces. Although he did not fly over Everest himself, his organisational skills and diplomacy were a major factor in the success of this venture. He eventually retired to Pietermauritzberg in South Africa, where he died.
Many thanks belatedly for this response. I’ve come to the conclusion Fellowes could not have been involved. Anyone know anything about the movements in Russia of Arthur Clinton Maund with RFC in Russia 1917 and on and off till 1919? Another name I have is Charles Olliver.
Lieutenant (temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) Arthur Clinton Maund, Canadian Contingent and Royal Flying Corps, Croix de Guerre Gazetted, 18.4.1918
DSO Gazetted 1.1.1918, Lt (Acting Major) Canadian Infantry & RFC
Died 13.12.1942, aged 51. Air Vice Marshal CB CBE DSO.
Son of Edward Arthur and Eleanora (nee Hawksworth) Maund. Husband of Marguerite Alice Elizabeth (nee Hill) Maund of St. Marylebone, London.
Air Vice Marshall Maund enlisted in the Saskatchewan Light Horse at the outbreak of the First World War (Feb 1915), after serving on Western Front, transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1916.
AVM Maund and his first wife, Emily Constance came to Canada and homsteaded at NW10-40-16-W3 near the Red Pheasant First Nations around 1908.
As a Major sent as part of the RFC Mission to Russia at the time of the March revolution.
Flew with members of the Mission in support of the 1917 Kornilov offensive.
See Appendix A: Canadian Airmen and the British Intervention in Russia, 1918-20, in ‘Canadian Airmen and the First World War, by SF Wise, & AIR 1/2387/228/11347
Maund, Arthur Clinton b: 30 Jul 1891 d: 13 Dec 1942
CB – 24 Sep 1941, CBE – 12 July 1920, DSO – 1 Jan 1918, MiD – 31 Mar 1920, CdeG (F) – 18 Apr 1918, CdeG (P) – 3 Dec 1918, SS2 – xx xxx xxxx, SV4 – xx xxx xxxx.
(Army): – 2 Lt: xx xxx 1915, Lt: 5 Dec 1915, (T) Maj: 1 Jun 1917, (T) Capt: 17 Dec 1917, (T) Lt Col*: 23 Oct 1917.
*without pay and allowances
(RAF): – (T) Lt Col [Maj]: 1 Apr 1918, Act Col: xx xxx 1918, Act Brig-Gen: xx xxx 1919, Sqn Ldr: 1 Aug 1919 [1 Apr 1918], Wg Cdr: 1 Jan 1926, Gp Capt: 1 Jan 1933, A/Cdre: 1 Jan 1937, AVM: 1 Jul 1939.
xx xxx 1914: Private, 32nd Canadian Infantry Battalion
xx xxx xxxx: Private, 8th Canadian Infantry Battalion.
xx xxx 1915: Officer, 8th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Manitoba Regiment.
xx Mar 1916: Attached to No 8 Sqn, RFC. (BE2c – Western Front)
31 May 1916: Flying Officer (Observer), RFC.
22 Sep 1916: Flying Officer (seniority from 31 May 1916), No 7 Sqn RFC. (BE2c, BE2e – Western Front)
1 Feb 1917: Flight Commander, No ? Sqn RFC.
1 Jun 1917: Head/Member of RFC Mission to Russia?
xx xxx 1918: Officer Commanding, RAF in Archangel
xx xxx 1919: General Officer Commanding, RAF Training Mission to Russia.
31 Jul 1919: Relinquished his Canadian Commission on Appointment to the RAF
1 Aug 1919: Appointed to a Permanent Commission as a Major
xx xxx 1920: Staff, RAF HQ, Constantinople
2 Jun 1920: Deputy Commandant?, School of Army Co-operation.
7 Jan 1921: Commandant, A.E.E./Officer Commanding, RAF Martlesham Heath.
1 Mar 1922: Assistant Commandant, Aeroplane Experimental Establishment.
2 May 1922: Officer Commanding, No 31 Sqn. (Bristol F2B – NWF India)
5 May 1924: Attended RAF Staff College.
xx Apr/May 1925: Staff, Deputy Directorate of Staff Duties.
1 Jun 1926: Technical Staff, HQ ADGB.
8 Sep 1930: Staff, Directorate of Operations and Intelligence.
6 Jan 1933: Officer Commanding, No 2 FTS.
17 Sep 1933: Commandant, A. & A.E.E./Officer Commanding, RAF Martlesham Heath.
28 Jan 1937: AOA, HQ Fighter Command.
26 Jun 1939: AOA, HQ British Forces in Iraq.
4 Dec 1939: AOA, HQ RAF Middle East.
17 Dec 1941: AOA, HQ Technical Training Command.
An Englishman, he was in Canada on the outbreak of WW1 and immediately enlisted as a private in the Canadian Local Forces. The RAF Training Mission was tasked with training the White Russians to fly RE8’s and was awarded the CBE for his work in this area. He died of natural causes – infective endocarditis.
http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Maund.htmMAUND, Group Captain Arthur Clinton C.B.E., D.S.O., R.A.F.; Air Ministry Staff Duties, since Sept., 1930. b. London, 30 July, 1891. Educ.: St. Paul’s. At Farnborough Technical Institute in 1909; served in France with the Canadian Infantry, 1915-16; observer, R.F.C., 1916; learnt to fly, 1916; in command R.F.C. Mission to Russia, 1917-18; at Air Ministry, 1919; commanded R.A.F. Mission to South Russia, 1919; commanded R. Aircraft Establishment, Martlesham, 1921-22; served in India, 1922-24; R.A.F. Staff College, 1924-25 at Air Ministry, 1925-26; promoted to Wing Commander, 1926; on technical staff duties Air Defence of Great Britain, 1925-30; holds French Croix de Guerre, Russian Orders of St. Stanislas and St. Vladimir. Club: R. Empire Society, Address: 8, Steeles Road, Hampstead. London, N.W.2. T.: Primrose 4782.
Who’s Who in British Aviation, 1933Once again many thanks for this helpful info. Can anyone give me any info on the Brits at Archangel Feb-July period 1918. Anyone any idea if any RFC were there or were they all military connected to RusplyCom? Any SIS presence? Trying to find more about whether there were any British aircraft based there at that time. If so what was their flying range? And were there any British planes based at Murmansk this period? Thanks.
According to the official list of aircraft supplied to overseas governments, Russia got the following:
29 BE2e
8 FE2b
147 Sopwith 2 seater
39 Sopwith bomber
51 Vickers Scouts (50 supplied directly as serials 1-50, plus A1968)These were from batches delivered late 1916/early 1917
The Anti-Bolshevik government got the following in 1919/1920:
18 Avro 504K
86 DH9
26 DH9a
100 RE8
27 Sopwith Camel
24 SE5a
2 Ships Camel
5 Short 184The Day We Almost Bombed Moscow. The Allied War in Russia 1918-1920 by Christopher Dobson
At War with the Bolsheviks: Allied Intervention into Russia, 1917-20 by Robert JacksonCovert Operations in Russia
The Iron Maze: Western Intelligence vs the Bolsheviks by Gordon Brook-Shepherd
The Spy Who Disappeared: Diary of a Secret Mission to Russian Central Asia in 1918 by Reginald Teague-JonesSouth Russia
Air Command – A fighter pilot’s story by Raymond Collishaw & R.V. Dodds
An Air Fighter’s Scrap Book by Ira Jones
Over the Balkans and South Russia, 1917-19 by H.A. Jones
Gone to Russia to Fight: The RAF in South Russia 1918-1920 by John T. SmithThank you again everyone. Forgive me going slightly off message but have an urgent research question: where can I find the full citation for an MC awarded September 1918? I don’t mean the simple listing you get in the press but the details of why it was awarded. And is there any significance to an MC being personally presented by King George V at Windsor? Can anyone suggest a source or someone who is an expert. This is very important to my research and don’t know where to look! thank you.
The Day We Almost Bombed Moscow. The Allied War in Russia 1918-1920 by Christopher Dobson
At War with the Bolsheviks: Allied Intervention into Russia, 1917-20 by Robert JacksonCovert Operations in Russia
The Iron Maze: Western Intelligence vs the Bolsheviks by Gordon Brook-Shepherd
The Spy Who Disappeared: Diary of a Secret Mission to Russian Central Asia in 1918 by Reginald Teague-JonesSouth Russia
Air Command – A fighter pilot’s story by Raymond Collishaw & R.V. Dodds
An Air Fighter’s Scrap Book by Ira Jones
Over the Balkans and South Russia, 1917-19 by H.A. Jones
Gone to Russia to Fight: The RAF in South Russia 1918-1920 by John T. SmithThank you again everyone. Forgive me going slightly off message but have an urgent research question: where can I find the full citation for an MC awarded September 1918? I don’t mean the simple listing you get in the press but the details of why it was awarded. And is there any significance to an MC being personally presented by King George V at Windsor? Can anyone suggest a source or someone who is an expert. This is very important to my research and don’t know where to look! thank you.
According to Malcolm Barrass’ Air of Authority:
Peregrine Forbes Morant b: 23 Dec 1883 r: 26 Oct 1910/17 Jul 1933 d: 12 Jun 1955DSO – 1 Jan 1918, Bar – 8 Feb 1919, MiD – 16 Dec 1919, .
(RN): – Mid’n: xx xxx 1898, Act Sub-Lt: 30 Aug 1903, Sub-Lt: 10 Apr 1905, Lt: 30 Aug 1904, Lt Cdr: 30 Aug 1912/30 Aug 1915, Flt Cdr: 17 Dec 1915, Sqn Cdr: 30 Jun 1916, Wg Cdr: 31 Dec 1917.
(RAF): – (T) Lt Col: 1 Apr 1918, Wg Cdr: 1 Aug 1919 [1 Apr 1918], Gp Capt: 1 Jan 1922, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1929.
xx xxx xxxx: Attended Britannia Naval College.
xx xxx 1898: Midshipman, Royal Navy.
30 Aug 1903: Officer, Royal Navy
10 Apr 1905: Confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.
26 Oct 1910: Retired from Royal Navy
xx xxx 1914: Officer, Royal Navy.
30 Aug 1915: Pilot, RNAS.
1915 Gunnery Staff Officer, Gunnery and Bomb Section, Air Department, Admiralty.
1 Apr 1917: Officer Commanding, No 2 Sqn RNAS.
1 Nov 1917?: Officer Commanding, No 1 Wing RNAS.
1 Apr 1918: Officer Commanding, No 61 Wing.
28 May 1918: Prisoner of War
xx Nov 1918:
1 Aug 1919: Awarded Permanent Commission as a Lieutenant Colonel
xx May 1920: Awaiting disposal, HQ Middle East Area.
7 Jul 1920: Officer Commanding, ‘Q’ Force HQ, Middle East Area
6 Dec 1920: Staff Officer, HQ Palestine Group.
1 Jan 1922: Chief Staff Officer, HQ RAF Middle East.
22 Sep 1922: Supernumerary, Constantinople Wing. (Chanak Crisis)
xx xxx 1922: Officer Commanding, Constantinople Wing. (Chanak Crisis)
2 Oct 1923: Chief Staff Officer, RAF Middle East. (OC until 27 Nov)
16 Jun 1924: Supernumerary, RAF Depot.
1 Jul 1924: Director of Airship Development.
1 Jul 1929: Director of Personal Services.
1 Jul 1929: Relinquishes his appointment as Air ADC to HM The King.
6 Sep 1930: AOC, No 23 Group.
30 Sep 1932: Placed on half pay list, Scale A
He was born at St Kilda in Victoria, Australia, although his parents were English, his father being in the country to assist with the reform of the Australian Army. After attending the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth he joined the Royal Navy in 1898, retiring from in 1910. He then went into business with a Ludvig Friedrich Brenner as a patentee and manufacturer, but in 1912, the partnership was dissolved and he left the business to Ludvig Brenner. Rejoining the Navy on the outbreak of war in 1914, he gained RAeC Certificate No 1697 on 5 Sep 1915.
Leading a raid in DH4, A8065 against the lock gates at Zeebrugge, on 22 May 1918, he was wounded and forced to crash land in the North Sea. Rescued by the Germans he spent the remainder of the war as a POW, later receiving a Mention in Despatches for valuable services whilst in captivity. On 11 August 1919, he was attempting a flight to Africa in the single Felixstowe Fury Flying Boat (N123), when it crashed on take off, all on board were uninjured except the W/T operator, who drowned.
Whilst serving in the Middle East he surveyed and opened the world’s first regular air route between Cairo and Baghdad. In 1933 he was selected to lead the 1933 Everest Air Expedition, which successfully made the first flight over the world’s highest mountain using specially adapted Westland Wallaces. Although he did not fly over Everest himself, his organisational skills and diplomacy were a major factor in the success of this venture. He eventually retired to Pietermauritzberg in South Africa, where he died.
Once again many thanks for this helpful info. Can anyone give me any info on the Brits at Archangel Feb-July period 1918. Anyone any idea if any RFC were there or were they all military connected to RusplyCom? Any SIS presence? Trying to find more about whether there were any British aircraft based there at that time. If so what was their flying range? And were there any British planes based at Murmansk this period? Thanks.
According to the official list of aircraft supplied to overseas governments, Russia got the following:
29 BE2e
8 FE2b
147 Sopwith 2 seater
39 Sopwith bomber
51 Vickers Scouts (50 supplied directly as serials 1-50, plus A1968)These were from batches delivered late 1916/early 1917
The Anti-Bolshevik government got the following in 1919/1920:
18 Avro 504K
86 DH9
26 DH9a
100 RE8
27 Sopwith Camel
24 SE5a
2 Ships Camel
5 Short 184
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