Falling Out

There is a family story that during his first crash Reginald was thrown from the plane and only managed to survive by hanging on to his Lewis gun as he dangled outside the plane.

This was not actually an uncommon event since the observers didn't have safety harnesses to hold them in. There was an interesting post by Stephen on on the Aerodrome forum

Lt. John Pugh, a Bristol observer with 48 squadron in the summer of '18, told me that there were no seats or straps for the observers in his unit.

I was absolutely stunned and wrote back to him for a clarification.

He replied emphatically and in all bold letters that there were absolutely NO seats and NO straps of any kind in the rear cockpit of his Bristol F2b. He held on to the gun mount and braced himself against the sides of his cockpit for support.

Other units and other aircraft no doubt varied in their equipment but Pugh's reply seems to confirm that in at least some cases, observers were in a pretty difficult position during hard maneuvers.

In the crash that claimed the lives of 2Lt.J.B.Cowan Lt.J.N.Jones, the plane crashed near the town of Lichtervelde, Belgium. Cowan's body was recovered and buried in the town, but Jones body was not. I assume from this that Jones tragically fell from the plane before the final crash. Jones body must have been recovered later as he was buried in the New British Cemetery at Harelbeke.

My Uncle emailed me saying

"I was often told by dad it was a case of hold on tight when taking off and landing. As its says no seats, belts, or anything. What would H&S SAY NOW?"