Frederick Thayre - Involvement in World War I

Involvement in World War I

Thayre first flew operationally with No. 16 Squadron RFC (Royal Flying Corps) in France, in BE2 aircraft. In this two-seater aircraft, his first victory was achieved on 18 March 1916 when his observer, Lieutenant C. R. Davidson, shot down an attacking German Fokker E.III fighter aircraft. On 10 July, Second Lieutenant Thayre was promoted to Temporary Captain. On 1 September, he was granted permanent appointment as Lieutenant.

Thayre was later posted to No. 20 Squadron, flying FE2d aircraft. He teamed up with Francis Cubbon, with whom he claimed two victories on 29 April 1917.

On 1 May, the duo shot down an Albatros two-seater of FA 6, killing its crew of two, while on 3 May 1917 Thayre and Cubbon engaged twenty-six Albatros D.III scout aircraft, claiming two enemy aircraft shot down. At last, having exhausted their machine gun ammunition in that fight, Thayre and Cubbon used their automatic pistols as weapons of last resort.

They would score fifteen victories together during the course of May 1917. When Britain's leading ace, Albert Ball crashed to his death on 7 May, Thayre found himself lagging only his own gunner, Cubbon, and Billy Bishop in the ace race of the Royal Flying Corps.

Read more about this topic:  Frederick Thayre

Famous quotes containing the words war i, involvement in, involvement, world and/or war:

    Now, were I once at home, and in good satire,
    I’d try conclusions with those Janizaries,
    And show them what an intellectual war is.
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)

    What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and no involvement in decision-making. . . . Involving the adolescent in decisions doesn’t mean that you are giving up your authority. It means acknowledging that the teenager is growing up and has the right to participate in decisions that affect his or her life.
    Laurence Steinberg (20th century)

    The glorious dream of full father involvement in infant care will not become a widespread reality overnight. But it can happen, and it eventually will happen,... A lot of progress may take place in a short period of time if we just lighten up, step back, and give the guys a decent chance.
    Michael K. Meyerhoff (20th century)

    Columbus has sailed westward of these isles by the mariner’s compass, but neither he nor his successors have found them. We are no nearer than Plato was. The earnest seeker and hopeful discoverer of this New World always haunts the outskirts of his time, and walks through the densest crowd uninterrupted, and, as it were, in a straight line.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    We are constantly thinking of the great war ... which saved the Union ... but it was a war that did a great deal more than that. It created in this country what had never existed before—a national consciousness. It was not the salvation of the Union, it was the rebirth of the Union.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)