KITS 01/2023

B6289, W. M. Alexander, No. 10(N) Squadron RNAS, Téteghem, France, January 1918

Canadian William Melville Alexander was native from

Toronto, and he was keen to learn to fly as soon as he

turned out 18. As the Curtiss and Wright Brothers flying schools were at full capacity, he took a journey to

Stinson school in San Antonio, Texas. There he got just

3,5 hours of training prior to his flying test. He succeeded and received Aero Club of America Certificate

No. 447. In 1916, back in Canada, he was appointed

a flight sub-lieutenant in the RNAS and after future trai-

ning he was sent overseas to become member of No. 3

(Naval) Wing in France. There he was flying Sopwith 1½

Strutters. Four months later, his unit was disbanded, and

Alexander was posted to the new No. 10 (N) Squadron to

fly Sopwith Triplanes as a part of Raymond Collishaw’s

“Black Flight”. He achieved his first victory on June 2,

1917, (shared) and he added seven more by the end of

July. After the unit started to receive new Camels, Alexander achieved his first victory on this type on August

16. He was also still using Triplane for some time alongside Camel. On August 27 he was appointed an acting

Flight Commander. Altogether he achieved 23 victories,

most of them classified as Out of Control (OOC) which

was also the case of the only victory achieved with Camel B6289. He did not continue military service after the

war and died on October 4, 1988, in Canada.

E7232, No. 4 Flying School, Freiston, United Kingdom, 1918

This Camel was manufactured by Ruston Proctor & Co Ltd.

In September 1918 and was posted to No. 4 Flying School

in Freiston, where it got colorful painting of white and red

colors. The upper side of the top wing obtained the motif

of the rays of rising sun, while upper side of bottom wing

got simple stripes of white and red color. The name Dimps

was painted on the left side only probably. The site of the

RNAS Freiston Shores was established in 1917 and served

as a satellite base for air-weapon training for nearby RNAS Cranwell. Originally it was nothing more than

a field on area of about 80 acres and was originally used

for final two weeks of training of officers on the advanced

flying course at RNAS Cranwell. However, its role was soon

extended, and the airfield was expanded and hangars,

accommodation blocks and a control tower were built. The

airfield was originally known as the RNAS Gunnery School

or Armament Training School and then became the School

of Aerial Fighting and Bomb Dropping when the RNAS became amalgamated into the newly formed RAF in 1918. The

name of the school than changed again to the No. 4 School

of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery and was redesignated

again as No. 4 Fighting School. The base was disbanded

in March 1920.

D6402, Henry W. Woollett, No. 43 Sqn, Avesnes-le-Comte, France, April 1918

Henry Winslow Woollett was set to follow in the footsteps

of his father, who was a doctor. Henry, medical student at

the outbreak of WWI, was commissioned in the Linconshire

Regiment in August 1914 and took part in the Suvla Bay

landings in the Dardanelles. He was transferred to the RFC

in 1916 and after training he joined No. 24 Squadron RFC in

November. They were flying DH-2s in France, which were

getting obsolete at the time. Woollett managed to shoot

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INFO Eduard

down one enemy flying this “bunch of wires”. After converting to DH-5s, he added for more. In August 1917 Woollett returned to England, became Flight Commander. Back

to France in March 1918, he joined No. 43 Squadron with

Camels. As a leader of the C Flight, he brought his score to

35 by early August. Of these victims 11 were balloons. His

specialty in fighting these heavily defended targets, was

the reason behind the adoption of irregular fields of very

light color over the upper wing and rudder. This was to

mimic the appearance of more colorful German aircraft.

This additional camouflage lasted only for a couple of

days before being ordered to be painted out. Some sources

state white color of these fields, but on the existing photo

they look somewhat darker and might be of very light blue

as well. This is up to every modeler to choose.

January 2023