Edwin Swale
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Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Edwin Swale | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Eddie |
| Born | 28 June 1899 Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 19 July 1978 (aged 79) Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England |
| Buried | 53°13′57″N 1°24′59″W / 53.23250°N 1.41639°W |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1917–1919 1939–1954 |
| Rank | Wing Commander |
| Unit | No. 12 (Naval) Squadron No. 10 (Naval) Squadron/210 Squadron RAF |
| Battles / wars | World War I • Western Front World War II |
| Awards | Order of the British Empire Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar |
| Other work | Businessman, Alderman, and Mayor of Chesterfield (1953) |
Wing Commander Edwin Swale CBE, DFC*, JP (28 June 1899 – 19 July 1978) was an English First World War flying ace credited with 17 aerial victories. His victory list is notable because he scored 14 of his 17 wins[1] against the premier German fighter of the war, the Fokker D.VII,[2] and became the leading Sopwith Camel ace of No. 210 Squadron RAF.[3]
Swale was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the younger son of Arthur Whiteley Swale and his wife Emmeline (née Furness), of Hady House, Chesterfield,[1] and was educated at the Chesterfield Grammar School.[4]
World War I service
In August 1917, only a few weeks after his 18th birthday, Swale joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a probationary flight officer, after six-months with the Nottinghamshire Officer Training Corps.[5] and having successfully completed his flight training, was appointed a temporary flight sub-lieutenant on 15 February 1918.[6]
He was posted very briefly to No. 12 (Naval) Squadron, before joining No. 10 (Naval) Squadron on 21 March 1918 to fly a Sopwith Camel single-seat fighter.[3][7] However, on 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force, and Swale's unit became No. 210 Squadron RAF.
Swale's first aerial victory came on 30 May 1918, destroying a Pfalz D.III fighter. On 5 June he destroyed an observation balloon, and on 17 June an Albatros D.V fighter. On 20 July he drove down out of control two Fokker D.VII fighters, and destroyed another on the 22nd. He accounted for three D.VIIs in August, and five in September,[1] being appointed a flight commander with the acting rank of captain on the 5th.[8] As commander of "A" Flight[3] he shot down two more D.VIIs on 1 October, finally rounding off his score with his seventeenth and final victory on 8 October, by sending another down in flames.[1] Swale was posted back to the Home Establishment on 21 October, just prior to the armistice.[3][7]
On 2 November 1918 his award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted. His citation read:
- Lieutenant Edwin Swale (Sea Patrol).
- "A successful and skilful pilot who has destroyed three enemy machines and one kite balloon, and has, in addition, driven down four aeroplanes out of control. On the 15th of September he attacked one of five Fokker biplanes; this machine was driven down out of control, and, on attempting to land, crashed."[9]
Just a month later, on 3 December, his award of a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted. The citation read:
- Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Edwin Swale, DFC. (Sea Patrol, Flanders)
- "A gallant and determined officer. On 1st October Capt. Swale led his patrol to attack eleven Fokker biplanes; in the engagement that ensued he drove down the leader, which crashed and caused a second machine to fall out of control. In addition to the foregoing, this officer has destroyed nine hostile 'planes and driven down five out of control."[10]
Swale was transferred to the unemployed list on 5 February 1919.[11] On April 11, 1918, while flying Sopwith Camel B3817, he crashed while making a forced-landing in bad weather in a field at Hazebrouck while on a low-level interdiction mission. He was unharmed. Then on September 17, 1918, his aircraft - Camel E4406 - was hit by German anti-aircraft over Ostend. Again, he was uninjured.[12]
List of aerial victories
| No. | Date/Time | Aircraft/ Serial No. |
Opponent | Result | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 May 1918 @ 1130 | Sopwith Camel (D3392) | Pfalz D.III | Destroyed | West of Armentières |
| 2 | 5 June 1918 @ 1000 | Sopwith Camel (D3392) | Balloon | Destroyed | Estaires |
| 3 | 17 June 1918 @ 0800 | Sopwith Camel (D9613) | Albatros D.V | Destroyed | South-east of Zillebeke Lake |
| 4 | 20 July 1918 @ 0945 | Sopwith Camel (D9613) | Fokker D.VII | Out of control | South-east of Ostend |
| 5 | Fokker D.VII | Out of control | |||
| 6 | 22 July 1918 @ 1755 | Sopwith Camel (D9613) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | South of Ostend |
| 7 | 1 August 1918 @ 1925 | Sopwith Camel (D9675) | Fokker D.VII | Out of control | North of Lille |
| 8 | 11 August 1918 @ 0930 | Sopwith Camel (D9675) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | West of Roeselare |
| 9 | 15 August 1918 @ 1620 | Sopwith Camel (D9675) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | South-east of Bruges |
| 10 | 1 September 1918 @ 1830 | Sopwith Camel (E4406) | Fokker D.VII | Out of control | East of Ypres |
| 11 | 3 September 1918 @ 1830 | Sopwith Camel (E4406) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | Kortrijk |
| 12 | 6 September 1918 @ 1835 | Sopwith Camel (E4406) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | West of Ostend |
| 13 | 24 September 1918 @ 1440 | Sopwith Camel (D3332) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | South of Sint-Pieters-Kapelle |
| 14 | 29 September 1918 @ 0800 | Sopwith Camel (F3116) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | Kortemark |
| 15 | 1 October 1918 @ 1710–1715 | Sopwith Camel (D3332) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed | South-east of Roeselare |
| 16 | Fokker D.VII | Out of control | Roeselare | ||
| 17 | 8 October 1918 @ 0920 | Sopwith Camel (D3332) | Fokker D.VII | Destroyed in flames | 4 miles (6.4 km) North-east of Roeselare |
Between the wars
After the war Swale returned to Chesterfield, joining the family clothing business. He served as an alderman on the Borough Council between 1927 and 1933,[7] and was an instructor in the Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club, and for a while held the club's altitude record of 7,000 feet (2,100 m).[3] He also competed in the 1938 National Gliding Contests, flying a Grunau Baby.[13]
World War II service
During World War II, Swale returned to service in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, being granted a commission "for the duration of hostilities" as a pilot officer on probation on 26 September 1939.[14] He was promoted to flying officer on 14 February 1940,[15] made an acting squadron leader on 1 January 1944,[16] and was promoted to that rank on 15 July 1944.[17] He served with the "Ultra" cryptanalysts who cracked the strategically important German Enigma machine code. He also served with the RAF Second Tactical Air Force.[3] Swale received mentions in despatches on 14 June 1945[18] and 1 January 1946, by which time he was an acting wing commander.[19]
