KITS 11/2022

D5969, Lt. Camille H. R. Lagesse, No. 29 Squadron, St. Omer, France, June 1918

Canadian Camille Henri Raoul Lagesse was born

in January 1883 in Quatre Bornes on the island

of Mauritius, where he studied at Royal College.

He undertook further studies at Bordeaux university

in France after which he worked in the sugar refinery. In 1916, he joined the 28th Battalion of the London

Regiment in England. By July 1917, he was reassigned

to the Royal Flying Corps and, after completing his

training, he was transferred to No. 29 Squadron,

where he served from March 1918. He stayed with this

unit until the end of the war and achieved twenty

victories during this time. His service was appreciated by the DFC (twice) and the Croix de Guerre

awards. Lt. Lagesse, whose nickname “Largearse”

was playing on his name, scored his first five kills

when flying this aircraft. One of his victims was

Lt. H. Schultz, a Jasta 18 Fokker D.VII pilot, whom

Lagesse forced to land on June 6, 1918. Chulz then

became a POW. Upperside surfaces of D5969 SE.5a

were painted in usual PC-10 color, which tended to

change in time from greenish khaki-like to more

brownish hue. Undersides were left in the natural fabric color. The PC-10 overlaped to the bottom

surfaces.

C5303, Lt. Leslie N. Franklin, No. 56 Squadron, Baizieux, France, March 1918

The famous No. 56 Squadron was not only made up

of names such as James McCudden, Arthur Rhys

Davids and Albert Ball, also pilots that didn't reach

quite the same aerial success served with the unit.

One of these was Lt. Leslie Nansen Franklin, who

shot down a total of four enemy aircraft over France.

He met his end on July 14, 1918. During an attack on

a reconnaissance LVG Type C, he was shot down

and last seen as his aircraft plummeted in flames

near Hendecourt in France. The aircraft on which

Lt. Franklin achieved his second victory, carried

the standard SE.5a camouflage scheme made up of

PC-10 on the upper and side surfaces while the lower surfaces remained in the natural fabric color.

Fighters flown by No. 56 Squadron were carrying

a wide white stripe around the rear fuselage

(not extending to the bottom surface of the fuselage) from the end of September 1917 to the end of

March 1918. The stylized white letter X was repeated

on the upper surface of the top wing and again

on the lower surface of the bottom wing in black.

D3511, Maj. Roderick S. Dallas, No. 40 Squadron, Bruay Airfield, France, May 1918

Roderick Stanley Dallas, DSO & Bar, DSC, Croix

de Guerre avec Palme, was born on July 30, 1891,

in Mount Stanley remote property not too far from

the town of Esk in Queensland, Australia. He refused

to serve with the RFC and he joined the RNAS instead,

where he undergo pilot training. His next move led

him to 1st Naval Wing at the end of 1915 and he became the unit’s CO on June 14, 1917. Before the merge

November 2022

of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air

Service into the Royal Air Force in April 1918, he had

been named the CO of No. 40 Squadron RFC, equipped with SE.5a fighters. June 1, 1918, was a fateful day, as he met a trio of Fokkers Dr.I from Jasta

14. In the ensuing combat he was shot down by Lt.

Johannes Werner. At that time, Major Dallas was

officially credited with 39 kills (some sources claim

32), the score making him second most successful

Australian fighter pilot of Great War. The standard

camouflage scheme on the aircraft of No. 40 Squadron

were complemented by addition of PC-12 brown and

Ochre Yellow (which was used for mixing PC-10 color)

on the upper surfaces of the aircraft. The serial

number was partially overpainted and the roundels

remained on the wings only.

INFO Eduard

51