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Thomas Traill

Name : Thomas Traill Born : 6th August 1899 Died : 1st October 1973

Traill joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman on 2 August 1914, when he was just four days shy of his 15th birthday. He was assigned to HMS Lord Nelson ] and served in the Gallipoli Campaign. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps to train as a pilot, and after completion of training was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant on probation on 11 October 1917. He was assigned to No. 20 Squadron RFC that day as a Bristol F.2 Fighter pilot. Traill was promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1918, as the Royal Air Force came into existence. He was promoted to temporary captain when he was appointed as a flight commander on 28 September 1918. Traill remained in military service, becoming the assistant air attaché in Washington D. C. in 1919. During this period he was sent off to join a barn-storming flying circus in the Mid West to raise funds for the Victory Liberty Loan. This was run by the United States Army Air Service under the command of Major George Stratemeyer. They travelled by train from Texas to the Canada–US border, putting on twenty-eight flying displays. These displays took place at race courses, sports grounds or fields. Large crowds attended as the local city authorities frequently closed all schools and colleges, and encouraged businesses to close in order to raise the maximum amount for the war loan.[6] He returned home to Britain the following year, being assigned to experimental work beginning 18 May 1920. He entered the University of Cambridge on 1 October 1922, receiving a Master of Arts in 1924. After that, he had various further domestic military assignments, as well as foreign service in Iraq, before he began attendance at the RAF Staff College on 23 January 1933. Traill was promoted to squadron leader on 1 December 1934 He was appointed to the command of No. 14 Squadron RAF on 16 August 1935, moving on to command RAF Helwan, Egypt on 10 May 1938. He was subsequently promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1938. On 26 September 1938, he was assigned to staff duty with the headquarters of No. 2 (Bomber) Group Traill scored eight aerial victories. In the process, he had three other aces serve as his gunner/observer at various times. While in combat on 2 July 1918, Percy Griffith Jones called out a warning from the plane's rear seat and Traill ducked. The German fighter behind them killed Jones and put a bullet through the cockpit and out the windscreen, missing Traill. Traill's next observer took an incendiary bullet in his leg. Leslie William Burbidge then became Traill's observer. On 23 October, while returning from the mission upon which Traill scored his eighth victory, Traill collided with another plane in his flight while flying at 7,000 feet. The accident knocked away part of the Bristol F.2 Fighter's wing. As the fighter tried to spin out of control, Burbidge leaped out onto the opposite wing at Traill's command, to counterbalance the spin while Traill struggled for control. The resultant crashlanding hurled Burbidge onto his face, but left Traill uninjured and preserved the airplane. Both men were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Traill remained in military service, becoming the assistant air attaché in Washington D. C. in 1919. During this period he was sent off to join a barn-storming flying circus in the Mid West to raise funds for the Victory Liberty Loan. This was run by the United States Army Air Service under the command of Major George Stratemeyer. They travelled by train from Texas to the Canada–US border, putting on twenty-eight flying displays. These displays took place at race courses, sports grounds or fields. Large crowds attended as the local city authorities frequently closed all schools and colleges, and encouraged businesses to close in order to raise the maximum amount for the war loan. He returned home to Britain the following year, being assigned to experimental work beginning 18 May 1920. He entered the University of Cambridge on 1 October 1922, receiving a Master of Arts in 1924. After that, he had various further domestic military assignments, as well as foreign service in Iraq, before he began attendance at the RAF Staff College on 23 January 1933. Traill was promoted to squadron leader on 1 December 1934. He was appointed to the command of No. 14 Squadron RAF on 16 August 1935, moving on to command RAF Helwan, Egypt on 10 May 1938. He was subsequently promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1938. On 26 September 1938, he was assigned to staff duty with the headquarters of No. 2 (Bomber) Group. On 14 May 1940, Thomas Traill was appointed Assistant Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Bomber Command. On 11 July 1940, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. A promotion to Group Captain followed on 1 December 1940. The following year would see him command RAF Middleton St. George before moving on to the post of Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at Headquarters, No. 242 Group. ] As part of 242 Group's deployment into Northwest African Air Forces, Traill was promoted to acting Air Commodore on 21 February 1943 and appointed SASO at the latter organization's headquarters on 8 March 1943. For his services there, he would be Mentioned in Despatches on 2 June 1943. Traill was appointed Director of Air Tactics on 28 February 1944, and selected as the RAF's Liaison Officer to the United States Army Air Forces' Eighth Air Force that same year. ] He was made of Officer of the American Legion of Merit on 11 April 1944, and was again Mentioned in Despatches on 8 June 1944

COMBAT REPORTS

citation read An officer of marked skill and bravery, who has shot down three enemy machines and seriously damaged a fourth. On 23rd October his machine accidentally collided with one of ours at a height of 7,-000 feet, and a part of the left plane was carried away, the machine being thereby rendered out of control. With great presence of mind Captain Traill ordered his observer to climb out and so directed him to balance the machine which enabled him to obtain partial control. Displaying rare skill and determination, he managed to land his damaged machine safely

Known Service Details :
Squadron	Rank	Start of Service	End of Service	Known Dates	Aircraft	Airframes	Notes
No.20 Sqn RAF	Captain	11th October 1917	unknown	23rd October 1918	Bristol F2B		On 23 October, while returning from the mission upon which Traill scored his eighth victory, Traill collided with another plane in his flight while flying at 7,000 feet. The accident knocked away part of the Bristol F.2 Fighter's wing. As the fighter tried to spin out of control, Burbidge leaped out onto the opposite wing at Traill's command, to counterbalance the spin while Traill struggled for control. The resultant crashlanding hurled Burbidge onto his face, but left Traill uninjured and preserved the airplane. Both men were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

Squadrons for : Thomas Traill
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Thomas Traill. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
No.20 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st September 1915 Fate : As a result of 2010 defence cuts, 20 Squadron disbanded on 31 March 2010, with its tasks taken over by the retitled 4 (Reserve) Squadron. Facta non verba - Deeds not words Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.20 Sqn RAF	No.20 Sqn RAF The squadron was formed on 1 September 1915, as a fighter-reconnaissance unit of the Royal Flying Corps, and became arguably the highest scoring and possibly most decorated British squadron on the Western Front with 613 combat victories, a posthumous Victoria Cross won by Thomas Mottershead, four Distinguished Conduct Medals, and over sixty Military Crosses and Military Medals awarded to its members. Its ranks included over forty flying aces. The squadron transferred from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly formed Royal Air Force in April 1918. Post World War I, unlike most of its contemporaries, the squadron was not disbanded and was transferred in Jun 1919 to the North-West Frontier Province, India for policing duties, in the Army Co-operation role, equipped with Bristol Fighters, then Wapitis and Audaxes for the whole of the inter-war period. At the outbreak of World War II, the squadron was still equipped with Audaxes, which were replaced with Lysanders in December 1941, re-equipping with Hurricanes in March 1943. During the Second World War the squadron's Hawker Hurricane IIDs and IVs saw action against the Japanese. After the war, the squadron re-equipped with Spitfires in September 1945, and Tempest FBIIs in May 1946, retaining these until it disbanded on 1 August 1947, whilst based in India.

First created : 17:22, January 12, 2017
Created by : HMS

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