Arthur Randall

Last updated

Arthur Clunie Randall
Nickname(s)"Snowy"
Born(1896-02-06)6 February 1896
Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Royal Air Force
Years of service1914–1926
RankFlight Lieutenant
Unit
Battles/warsWorld War I
 • Western Front
 • British campaign in the Baltic (1918–19)
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross
Cross of Liberty (Estonia)

Flight Lieutenant Arthur Clunie Randall DFC (b. 6 February 1896) was a Scottish World War I flying ace credited with 10 aerial victories. [1] After earning a Distinguished Flying Cross during the war, he remained in military service until 1926.

Contents

Early life

Arthur Clunie Randall was born in Paisley, Scotland, on 6 February 1896. When he enlisted in the military, he was living in Bothwell, Lanarkshire. [1]

World War I

On 13 November 1914, Randall was among cadets and ex-cadets of the Officers' Training Corps appointed as temporary second lieutenants in the infantry. [2] After serving in a reserve battalion of the Border Regiment, he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps on 27 October 1916, [3] and appointed a flying officer, transferred to the General List, on 30 November. [4] He was posted to No. 32 Squadron, flying an Airco DH.2. He scored his first aerial victory with them on 23 January 1917. He would score one more win with them, being wounded in the process, on 11 March 1917. [1] [5] On 1 April 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant, [6] and on 3 June was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain. [7] His second combat tour was as a fighter pilot with No. 85 Squadron, flying a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a. This time around, he scored another eight aerial victories, between June and October 1918, culminating in the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross just days before the Armistice. [1] His citation read:

Captain Arthur Clunie Randall.
"A daring and skilful airman who during recent operations has accounted for six enemy aeroplanes. He is conspicuous for his determination and devotion to duty." [8]

List of aerial victories

Combat record [1]
No.Date/timeAircraft/
Serial No.		OpponentResultLocationNotes
123 January 1917
@1515		 Airco DH.2 German reconnaissance aircraftDestroyed by fire Ervillers, FranceShared with Captain Leslie Peech Aizlewood, Lieutenants G. J. King, Frank Billinge & T. A. Gooch, and 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Coningham
211 March 1917
@1005		Airco DH.2
Serial number A2548		 Albatros D.III Driven down out of control Bapaume, France
318 June 1918
@0450		 SE.5a
s/n B7870		German reconnaissance aircraftDestroyed Voormezeele, BelgiumShared with Lieutenant Alec Reid
414 July 1918
@0835		SE.5a
s/n C1928		 Pfalz D.III DestroyedNorth of Merville, France
524 July 1918
@1045		SE.5a
s/n C1931		 Fokker D.VII Destroyed Neuve-Église, France
631 July 1918
@2005		SE.5a
s/n C6454		 Albatros reconnaissance aircraftDestroyed Vieille-Chapelle, France
79 August 1918
@0755		SE.5a
s/n C6454		Albatros reconnaissance aircraftDestroyed by fire Steenwerck, France
810 August 1918
@0640		SE.5a
s/n C6454		 DFW reconnaissance aircraftDestroyed Le Touret, France
922 August 1918
@1650		SE.5a
s/n C6454		Fokker D.VIIDriven down out of control Maricourt, France
104 October 1918
@1755		SE.5a
s/n E5487		DFW reconnaissance aircraftDestroyedNorthwest of Aubencheul-aux-Bois, France

Post-war career

Randall remained in the RAF after the war, being granted a permanent commission with the rank of captain on 1 August 1919. [9] He was then serving in the campaign in the Baltic in which British forces supported the White Army against the Reds in the Russian Civil War. Randall took part in the Raid on Kronstadt on the night of 17/18 August 1919. He flew one of the eight aircraft that created a diversion while Royal Navy Coastal Motor Boats attacked Russian warships. However, Randall suffered an engine failure en route. He was just about to land when his engine came back to life, and despite knowing that it could fail again at any time, he pressed on to take part in the attack. His engine failed completely on the return journey. [10] Meanwhile, a flotilla of eight Coastal Motor Boats entered the harbour and launched their torpedoes, succeeding in sinking the submarine tender Dvina (formerly the armoured cruiser Pamiat Azova), and damaging the battleships Petropavlovsk and Andrei Pervozvanny, though three CMB's were sunk. [11] On 26 March 1920, Randall was awarded the Cross of Liberty Second Class by the government of Estonia, [12] in recognition of his services during the Estonian War of Independence. [13]

Randall then served in No. 210 Squadron, based at RAF Gosport, until 30 January 1922 when he was transferred to No. 203 Squadron, [14] based at RAF Leuchars. However he was soon transferred again, moving to the RAF Depot (Inland Area) as a supernumerary on 3 April. [15] From 6 January 1923 he served as adjutant of the Inland Area Aircraft Depot. [16]

Randall was dismissed from the Royal Air Force by sentence of a General Court-Martial on 23 December 1926. [17] He reportedly emigrated to Dominica, in the Caribbean, settled in the village of Delices, and was still living there up until 1948.

See also

Related Research Articles

Thomas Falcon Hazell & Bar was a fighter pilot with the Royal Flying Corps, and later, the Royal Air Force during the First World War. Hazell scored 43 victories in 1917–18 making him the fifth most successful British "flying ace" of the war, and the third most successful Irish-born pilot, behind Edward Mannock and George McElroy, as well the only pilot to survive the war from both groups.

Squadron Leader Loudoun James MacLean was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.

Group Captain George Cecil Gardiner was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.

Wing Commander (rank) Noel Keeble was a British flying ace of the First World War, credited with six aerial victories.

Squadron Leader Thomas Carlyon Luke was a British World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.

Flight Lieutenant William Geoffrey Meggitt was a British World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.

Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Arthur Henzell Pidcock, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. After becoming a flying ace in the First World War, credited with six aerial victories, he remained in the newly created [oyal Air Force after the war, serving as a senior officer during the Second World War and specializing in the development of armaments. He retired in 1951.

Captain Rowan Heywood Daly was a British flying ace credited with three aerial victories during World War I, and an additional four victories in Russia during 1919.

Group Captain Adrian Winfrid Franklyn was a British World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He remained in the Royal Air Force post-war, and served throughout World War II before retiring in 1948.

Squadron Leader Maurice Michael Freehill was a British World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories, who went on to serve in the Royal Air Force until his death in 1939.

Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Granville White, was a Royal Air Force air officer. He was a First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories, and later went on to serve throughout the Second World War, finally retiring in 1955.

Group Captain Arthur Hicks Peck, was an officer of the Royal Air Force, who was a flying ace credited with eight aerial victories in the First World War.

Air Vice Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask, was a senior officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). He began his career in the British Army and served with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, being credited with eight aerial victories to become a flying ace. He flew over 100 sorties, and survived three forced landings. He attained the rank of captain, and position as flight commander, in No. 84 Squadron. He remained in the RAF after the war, being appointed Director-General of Engineering in the Air Ministry with the rank of air vice marshal after the Second World War.

Flight Lieutenant David Arthur Stewart, was a British First World War flying ace credited with sixteen aerial victories. Remarkably, they were all scored while he was flying bombers instead of fighters.

Group Captain Harry King Goode, was an officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During World War I, he was a flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories. He remained in RAF service until retiring in 1941.

Squadron Leader Richard Michael Trevethan was a British First World War flying ace credited with twelve aerial victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Norton (RAF officer)</span> British air officer

Air Commodore Ernest William Norton, was a British air officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF), who began his military career as a flying ace of the First World War credited with nine aerial victories. He rose through the ranks in a mixture of domestic and foreign assignments during the interwar period until he was appointed Air Officer-in-Charge at RAF Headquarters in Singapore on 28 December 1937. By 7 September 1941, he was serving as an air commodore for RAF Fighter Command in Britain. He retired from the RAF on 24 February 1944.

Group Captain Reginald Stuart Maxwell, was a British flying ace during World War I. He continued in RAF service until 1941, and served in the RNVR during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Stacey Hodson</span> Royal Air Force Air Vice-Marshal (1899-1976)

Air Vice Marshal George Stacey Hodson, was an air officer of the British Royal Air Force who began his military career as a World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories. In the course of his 34 years service, he rose to become a major commander during World War II.

Air Commodore Herbert Victor Rowley was a British air officer of the Royal Air Force. He was a World War I flying ace, credited with nine aerial victories while serving in the Royal Naval Air Service, but became a member of the Royal Air Force when the RNAS was consolidated into it. Rowley remained in the RAF post-war, serving through World War II, until retiring in 1944.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Arthur Clunie Randall". The Aerodrome. 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "No. 28976". The London Gazette . 13 November 1914. pp. 9382–9383.
  3. ↑ "No. 29804". The London Gazette. 27 October 1916. p. 10430.
  4. ↑ "No. 29869". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 December 1916. pp. 12323–12324.
  5. ↑ "Roll of Honour: Wounded". Flight . IX (430): 271. 22 March 1917. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "No. 30458". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 January 1918. p. 343.
  7. ↑ "No. 30139". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1917. p. 6116.
  8. ↑ "No. 30989". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1918. p. 12971.
  9. ↑ "No. 31486". The London Gazette. 1 August 1919. pp. 9864–9867.
  10. ↑ "The Raid on Kronstadt". Flight. XI (564): 1361. 16 October 1919. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Smith, Gordon (2011). "Baltic and North Russia 1919". naval-history.net. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Arthur Clunie Randall". Office of the President. 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Estonian State Decorations". Office of the President. 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Royal Air Force: Appointments". Flight. XIV (684): 75. 2 February 1922. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Royal Air Force: Appointments". Flight. XIV (699): 289. 18 May 1922. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "Royal Air Force: Appointments". Flight. XV (735): 55. 25 January 1923. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "No. 33236". The London Gazette. 4 January 1927. p. 44.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.