In Memory of Flight Lieutenant ARTHUR FRANK BRANDON D S C Royal Naval Air Service who died on 26 October 1917 Remembered with honour MINSTER (THANET) CEMETERY Flight -Lieutenant Arthur Frank Brandon, RNAS (DSC) Brandon hailed from Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa, and was educated at Michaelhouse and Cedara College in Natal, South Africa. He initially served with the South - African forces in the German South-West African campaign, whereupon he joined the RNAS, serving in Salonika. Brandon was to shoot down a German “Gotha” bomber on the south - east coast of England on the 22 August 1917, but was killed on the 26 October 1917 (in an air-collision) before his award of the DSC had been gazetted. The citation to his DSC read: “for services on the August 22nd ,1917, when he attacked single-handed an enemy formation returning from a raid on England, and brought down one of them in flames. As his aeroplane had been hit several times, he landed to change machines, and proceeded to attack again with a new one, making repeated attacks on individual machines, and pursuing the enemy formation over the North Sea to the Belgian Coast where he made a final attack.” http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1917/1917 - 1176.html
Flt Lt A F Brandon of Manston Naval Air Station was killed in an accident while flying Sopwith Triplane N5382 on 26 October 1917. He collided with Sopwith Pup N6466, the pilot of which, Lt D W Gray, survived unhurt. Gareth
Heres the citation for Arthurs DSC 22nd August 1917 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1917/1917 - 1162.html
