Cedric Howell

Cedric Howell

Cedric Ernest "Spike" Howell DSO, MC, DFC (17 June 1896 – 10 December 1919) was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 for service in the First World War and was posted to the 46th Battalion on the Western Front. During November 1916, he was accepted for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and was shipped to the United Kingdom for flight training. Graduating as a pilot, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and posted to No. 45 Squadron RFC in France during October 1917; two months later the unit sailed to the Italian theatre.

Howell spent eight months flying operations over Italy, conducting attacks against ground targets and engaging in sorties against aerial forces. While in Italy, he was credited with shooting down a total of nineteen aircraft. In one particular sortie on 12 July 1918, Howell attacked, in conjunction with one other aircraft, a formation of between ten and fifteen German machines; he personally shot down five of these planes and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Howell had previously been awarded the Military Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross for his gallantry in operations over the front. He was posted back to the United Kingdom in July 1918. In 1919, Howell was killed while taking part in the England to Australia air race. Piloting a Martinsyde A1 aircraft, he attempted to make an emergency landing on Corfu but the plane fell short, crashing into the sea just off the island's coast. Both Howell and his companion subsequently drowned.