James McCudden

Discussion in 'World War 1' started by liverpool annie, Nov 2, 2008.

  1. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    I found this for somebody ... but thought I would share it here .... hard to believe he was only 23 !!

    Major James Thomas Byford McCudden, VC, DSO and bar, MC and bar, MM, age 23. 60 Squadron, Royal Air Force. Died 9/7/1918.

     
  2. Kyt

    Kyt Άρης

  3. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    Thats wonderful ... great pictures too !! :clapping:




    ( Hope thats not the same public toilet that guy had to have medical attention at recently ?? :noidea: )
     
  4. Adrian Roberts

    Adrian Roberts Active Member

    As the pdf article says, the McCudden family suffered terribly in the war; James' two brothers were also killed with the RFC.

    John Anthony McCudden was an ace with eight victories with 84 sqdn when he was shot down by Hans Wolff of Jasta 11 on 18/3/18. Their older brother William was killed in the crash of a Bleriot at Gosport on 1/5/15. Their brother-in-law Arthur Spears was killed when the minelayer HMS Princess Irene blew up at Sheerness on 27/5/15. Their father was killed stepping of a train in 1921, and their younger brother Maurice, just too young for the war, worked as a flight test engineer but died from colonitis in 1931.

    James McCudden was a professional soldier to his fingertips. His speciality was solo hunting of high-altitude two-seaters, and he was very good at this. He has been criticised for the fact that a high proportion of his victims were two-seaters, even higher than von Richthofen's, but that was his job - it was the two-seaters that were photographing Allied lines and spotting for artillery. Doubt has been expressed about the victory totals of some aces, which included a high proportion of "out -of - control" rather than "destroyed", but McCudden's total of 57 is almost entirely verifiable.

    His death is often cited as being an example of turning back to an airfield after engine failure and stalling, rather than landing straight ahead. Only partly true. His SE5a was brand new but was found to have been fitted erroneously with a carburettor that had been fitted to the early SE5s and then superseded, because it had a tendency to cut out in sharp turns. McCuddens initial sharp turn after take-off was something he had done many times before, and when on this occassion his engine faltered, he had only a couple to seconds to decide to turn another ninety degrees back to the field, which proved fatal .
     
  5. liverpool annie

    liverpool annie New Member

    So much heroism, so much bad luck in one family

    Major James McCudden VC.
     
  6. Antipodean Andy

    Antipodean Andy New Member

    A good discussion guys.
     

Share This Page