Noel Webb (RFC officer)

Captain Noel William Ward Webb MC & Bar (12 December 1896 – 16 August 1917) was a British World War I flying ace credited with fourteen aerial victories. He also claimed the life of German ace Leutnant Otto Brauneck for his ninth victory.[1][2]

Noel William Ward Webb
Noel William Ward Webb
Born	12 December 1896 Margate, Kent, England
Died	16 August 1917 (aged 20) (KIA) Vicinity of Polygon Wood, France
Memorial	Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1915–1917
Rank	Captain
Unit	Honourable Artillery Company No. 25 Squadron RFC No. 70 Squadron RFC
Battles/wars	World War I  • Western Front
Awards	Military Cross & Bar

Early life and education

Noel William Webb (the form of name he used) was the youngest son of William Trego Webb and his wife Isabel Mary, of Kensington, London.[3] He was educated at St. Paul's School, where he played for the first Rugby team.[4] His older sister was the physician, costume collector and author Phillis Emily Cunnington.

Military service

Webb first served as a private in the Honourable Artillery Company before being commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps as a second lieutenant on 10 March 1916.[5] After completing pilot's training he was appointed a flying officer on 3 July 1916,[6] and was assigned to No. 25 Squadron in France on 4 July.[1] Piloting a Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b, he shot down one of the first fighters with a synchronized gun when he destroyed a Fokker Eindekker on 19 July. During the next two months, he became one of the few F.E.2 aces after four further victories, with his fifth, on 15 September, being the destruction of another Eindekker. Leslie Court was one of his observer gunners during these missions.[2] Webb was invalided home in September,[4] where he was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain on 4 October,[7] and then posted to a squadron in England, where he acted as instructor, and for a time as a squadron commander.[4] He was also awarded the Military Cross on 1 January 1917.[8]

Webb was one of the few pilots who became an ace while flying the F.E.2b.

Webb was then reassigned to No. 70 Squadron as a Sopwith Camel pilot on 21 June 1917 for his return to combat. While test flying a new Camel on 12 July, he became the first pilot to score a victory in the type by wounding the crew of a German two-seater and forcing them down onto a British airfield into captivity. On 17 July, he sent down two Albatros D.Vs out of control in separate actions; in one of these dogfights, he wounded German ace Oberflugmeister Karl Meyer. On 26 July, he killed Leutnant Otto Brauneck while destroying his Albatros D.V. Webb scored twice more on the 28th, and followed this with three more, his last victories, on 13 August 1917. Three days later, near Polygon Wood, he was last seen diving away from his patrol after two German aircraft. He fell under the guns of Werner Voss.[2]

As a Commonwealth flier of the Western Front with no known grave he is commemorated at the Arras Flying Services Memorial,[9] and also, alongside his brother Lieutenant Paul Frederic Hobson Webb, who was killed in action on 7 July 1918 while serving in No. 27 Squadron RAF,[10][11] on the War Memorial at Dunwich, Suffolk.[3]

War memorial inside St James's Church in Dunwich including Noel Webb

List of aerial victories

Combat record[1]

No.	Date/Time	Aircraft/ Serial No.	Opponent	Result	Location	Notes
No. 25 Squadron RFC
1	19 July 1916 @ 0645	F.E.2b (5245)	Fokker E	Destroyed	East of Provin	Observer: Second Lieutenant I. A. Mann.
2	9 August 1916 @ 1215	F.E.2b (4839)	Albatros C	Forced to land	Beaumont	Observer: Lieutenant C. S. Workman.
3	7 September 1916 @ 1750	F.E.2b (7003)	Fokker E	Out of control	Pont-à-Vendin	Observer: Corporal H. Brown. Shared with Captains Alwyne Loyd & C. H. Dixon, Second Lieutenant C. S. Workman, and Air Mechanic M. J. H. Booth.
4	9 September 1916 @ 1600	F.E.2b (6993)	C	Destroyed	Pont-à-Vendin	Observer: Sergeant Leslie Court.
5	15 September 1916 @ 1720	F.E.2b (4841)	Fokker E	Destroyed	Fresnoy	Observer: Lieutenant C. S. Workman.
No. 70 Squadron RFC
6	12 July 1917 @ 1215	Sopwith Camel (B3756)	Albatros C.X	Captured	Bellevue	From Flieger-Abteilung 18. Pilot: Leutnant Johannes Böhm (DOW). Observer: Leutnant Johannes Wollenhaupt (POW).[12]
7	17 July 1917 @ 2000–2055	Sopwith Camel (B3756)	Albatros D.V	Out of control	South of Gheluvelt
8			Albatros D.V	Out of control
9	26 July 1917 @ 1930	Sopwith Camel (B3756)	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	East of Zonnebeke	Leutnant Otto Brauneck (KIA).
10	28 July 1917 @ 1940–1950	Sopwith Camel (B3756)	Albatros D.III	Destroyed	Roulers
11			Albatros D.III	Out of control	East of Polygon Wood
12	13 August 1917 @ 1930–1945	Sopwith Camel (B3756)	DFW C	Out of control	North-east of Dixmude
13			DFW C	Destroyed	East of Dixmude
14			DFW C	Out of control	North-east of Dixmude	Shared with Captain A. R. Hudson.

Honours and awards

Military Cross

Gazetted on 1 January 1917, without citation.[8]

Bar to Military Cross

Temporary Captain Noel William Webb, MC, General List and Royal Flying Corps.

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in aerial combats. He has destroyed three hostile machines and driven down four others completely out of control. By his spirit and gallantry he has set a fine example which has inspired the pilots of his flight to successfully attack enemy formations many times more numerous than their own."[13]

References

Notes

1. "Noel William Ward Webb". The Aerodrome. 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
2. Shores, Franks & Guest (1990), p. 378.
3. Green, Stuart (2014). "Dunwich War Memorial". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
4. "Casualties". Flight. IX (465): 1230. 22 November 1917. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
5. "No. 29525". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 March 1916. p. 3391.
6. "No. 29672". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 July 1916. p. 7172.
7. "No. 29792". The London Gazette. 20 October 1916. p. 10081.
8. "No. 29886". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1917. p. 43.
9. "Casualty Details: Webb, Noel William Ward". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
10. "Casualties". Flight. X (500): 838. 25 July 1918. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
11. "Casualty Details: Webb, Paul Frederic Hobson". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
12. Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W. & Duiven, Rick (1999). Casualties of the German Air Service 1914-1920. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 9781902304335.
13. "No. 30466". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 January 1918. pp. 579–580.

Bibliography

• Shores, Christopher F.; Franks, Norman & Guest, Russell F. (1990). Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)