A Brief History
On July 25, 1915, the somewhat appropriately named Lanoe Hawker became the first British aviator to shoot down 3 enemy planes in 1 day, earning himself the Victoria Cross. Hawker went on to become the first “Ace” in British history, as a pilot that shoots down at least 5 enemy aircraft. His total of 7 victories seems modest, but his career was shortened by being himself shot down and killed by the dreaded Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen in 1916.
Digging Deeper
Not just an “ace” fighter pilot, Hawker was also an innovator that experimented with various ways to mount and arm machine guns on warplanes. He developed a way to double the capacity of drum magazine of the Lewis machine gun, and also developed the disintegrating metal link for belts of machine gun ammo. He even came up with a “rocking fuselage” trainer for training pilots on machine gun aiming while on the ground, as well as a technique of wrapping the wooden propeller tips in cloth as protection and thigh high fur lined boots. (Unheated cockpits in those days.)
Hawker was only the 435th licensed pilot in Britain when he earned his Aviator’s Certificate in 1913. Hawker’s request for assignment to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was granted in 1914, and he had attained the rank of Captain when he was posted to France. (Note: The RFC became the RAF in April 1918 when it merged with the Royal Naval Flying Service.)
The airplane Hawker flew in his historic 3 victory sortie was a Bristol Scout C, a single seat biplane with a forward mounted radial engine of only 80 horsepower! This modest power plant could only propel the biplane to a top speed of under 100 mph. The Scout was armed with a single Lewis machine gun (some with a Vickers gun) in British .303 caliber. The machine gun could not be fired through the arc of the propeller, meaning the pilot had to be offset to shoot at the enemy at an angle, a difficult feat indeed. Only 374 of these planes were built.
Lanoe Hawker also has the distinction of the only “Lanoe” I have ever heard of. If you search the word “lanoe” via Google or Yahoo, Hawker is the first entry that comes up. Just sayin’…
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Hawker MC, Tyrrel M. Hawker VC – The First RFC Ace: The Life of Major Lanoe Hawker VC DSO 1890 – 1916. Pen and Sword Military, 2013.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="12922 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=12922">50 Comments
Anytime I think about Red Baron I associate it with Snoopy (Charlie Brown’s dog), I had no idea about his history though until this! Also Lanoe Hawker was obviously a smart man to wear warm sock in the cockpit, I can only imagine how cold it must be up there.
.303 still being used today, refined to near perfection
Red baron I remember that because of the pizza. Then it has the plane on the front of the box too. I knew it had something to do with the war but not the details. That is pretty cool
He seems like a really passionate guy in hopes of taking enemies down with his plane and he succeed. 7 planes doesn’t seem like a small number for me (I’ve taken down 0), but it might seem like a small number compared to the present.
I always wanted to know how does it feel drive a single seated plane it looks really hard to keep still. The first dog fights must have been mostly misses till they finally got the hang or flying shooting and dodging mid battle.
Interesting how one man innovated so much for planes used in combat.
I never knew the real history of the Red Baron. Very interesting.
Three planes in one day is crazy
Red baron is a legend in aviation glad i read more
Red Baron is a historical legend in its own right
Red Baron! okay just saying.. try the pizza
I like Red Baron pizza!
Guy was genius and a badass
It seems that not only was he an impressive pilot, but he may have been an even more impressive innovator!
I think that it was really cool that he was not only an Ace pilot, but also someone who was trying to improve flight by inventing new ways of improving the war plane. He must have been really talented.
It was an admirable accomplishment that he shot down three planes in one day. It is ironic that he was also killed by being shot down while in flight because this is what he is best known for doing.
Very impressive that Hawker was able to shoot down three planes in one day during that time. He continued to not only be a great pilot, but also inventing ways to better the plane.
This guy was quite the fighter shooting down three in one day, I feel like in those days it was hard to shoot down even one.
Hawker was a great pilot. Shooting down 3 enemy planes in one day is quite the accomplishment. I think his death was sad since he was killed by what he knew how do to best himself.
Karma will come back to bite you. Hawker was a great poilt who did his job great and did what he had do do great. Hawker also was shot down after he shot 7 planes down himself.
I’d love to hear a story about a pilot who survived! Hawker was obviously great at his job and did a lot for the british troops.
Lanoe hawker sounds like an amazing and accomplished flier. I can’t believe the plane he flew had only one machine gun you had to operate while flying! I’m not sure how someone accomplishes actually hitting an enemy that way.
Another famous person dying in a plane crash (shot down). Lanoe does seems to of historical relevance though as a person that was truly a pioneer in his industry. Another person that I would not have learned of if I had not taken this class.
Seems that all his experiments and innovations played off that day. Crazy that the planes he was flying only had a horsepower of 80 mph. Sad to see another great man and inventor go down flying a plane.
It seems like all great flyers end up dying in their plane! It was quite an accomplishment for Hawker to pull a “hat trick” in one battle, especially when you consider the difficulty of shooting from the plane.
Hawker really made a name for his family. He shot down three enemies in one day but sadly died when shot in his own plane. The total number of planes he shot down was seven.
Considering that Hawker was an ace himself, it makes sense that he had good insight towards the innovation behind putting guns on airplanes. He had to have known much about what it takes to be a good ace and how he could improve his skills by improving the equipment and the plane he was riding in.
Hawker had good ideas about how to improve his own flying experience. He came up with a way for people to practice shooting the machine gun on land in a similar fashion as they would be in flight. For protection he wrapped his propeller tips in cloth and also lined his thigh high boots with fur to keep himself warm during his flights.
When airplanes became more deadly by putting guns and bombs in them the state of wars changed. It took a lot of skill to work through the skies and Hawker did just that. The British should be proud for what he did.
As famous as Lanoe was for his flying skills, he eventually met his match in the Red Baron. The Red Baron has to be one of the most famous pilots in history because of his reputation for flying. The Red Baron has so much mystique about him that even the mention of his name is riveting.
It is amazing that he able to shoot down three enemies in the same day! I cannot imagine how hard being a pilot in the army must be. This is just another article about someone dying while flying a plane. He was truly a hero who died fighting for his country.
Hawker was an impressive pilot. Shooting down three enemy planes in one day is a great accomplishment. It is sad that he only had the chance to have 7 victories before dying in a tragic plane crash.
Hawker was a true fighter pilot. He seems to be the benchmark for aviators throughout history.
It is a shame Hawker was shot down by another. He is not only pilot, but a hero and a man who earned his Victoria Cross by doing what he needed.
Hawker was a skilled aviator in his time. Being able to shoot down that many enemies was very impressive. Too bad his life was cut short. He could have done many more great things.
Hawker was an amazing pilot. The battle in the air has always been one that interested me. You can read countless stories about the brotherhood between all pilots during this time. Like the unwritten rule of not killing a pilot who ejected his plane. Shows the true good of people to not kill a defenseless person and I wish more of this happened on the ground.
He was a true fighter pilot and a good example for the ones to follow his foot steps.
Interesting to read how Hawker was able to dominate the air, but just as quickly be taken out. It is cool reading about the other achievements he had.
I could only imagine the amount of people in the airforce that have been inspired by him.
His candle shed a brief yet beautiful light.
A difficult time for aerial combat. Truly amazing that he became an ace considering the difficulty of an offset shot.
i heard of the red baron, but he had victories and that should make his name live on , since it was significant, it must have been real hard to shoot plans down.
Snoopy and the Red Baron!
It’s very surprising that he was able to do such a good job. It’s no wonder he has so many namesakes from pizza to businesses!
We’ve come so far in technology since this time, I cant even imagine a one person plane. That’s interesting that he had to offset the plane in order to shoot the gun.
Had no idea that Hawker developed a way to double the capacity of drum magazine of the Lewis machine gun.
I can’t imagine flying a plane with having to fire a gun offset instead of just firing throughout the propellor.
I bet it took alot of practice to not only fly the plane, but shoot at the enemy at the same time.
To think back then how fast those airplane Hawkers went and now the improvement on the planes and how fast they can go.
I always wonder how people are able to fly an airplane.. I just think it seems so difficult, so I cant even imagine how they were able to fly the airplane AND shoot their guns.