Banbury then travelled to England to join the Royal Naval Air Service,[1] being commissioned as a temporary flight sub-lieutenant on probation on 28 June 1916.[4] After additional training he was eventually posted to France in March 1917 to serve in No. 9 (Naval) Squadron based at St. Pol. Flying a Sopwith Pup single-seat fighter Banbury gained his first aerial victory on 31 May 1917, sharing in the driving down out of control of a German two-seater reconnaissance aircraft over Ostend. The following day he drove down a Halberstadt reconnaissance aircraft solo. His squadron were then re-equipped with the Sopwith Camel fighter, and in one of these Banbury shared in the driving down of another reconnaissance aircraft off Westende on 25 July. Banbury gained three more aerial victories in September, accounting for an Albatros reconnaissance aircraft and two Albatros D.V fighters.[1] On 1 October 1917 he was promoted to flight lieutenant,[5] going on to gain three more victories over enemy aircraft that month. He was granted the acting rank of flight commander on 9 November,[6] and gained his tenth victory on the 23rd.[1][7]
Banbury returned to Canada on leave in December 1917, before returning to England in February 1918, and then to his unit in France in March.[8] He gained his eleventh and final victory, sharing in the capture of a reconnaissance aircraft near Becelaere, on 26 March.[1][7]
On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service was merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, and Flight Commander Banbury of No. 9 (Naval) Squadron became Captain Banbury of No. 209 Squadron RAF. However, the same day Banbury took off in Camel "B7247" on a practice flight, but suffered a fatal heart attack in flight and crashed.[8][9]
Banbury's award of the Distinguished Service Cross "in recognition of services at Dunkirk" was gazetted posthumously on 23 April 1918.[10]
Banbury is buried in grave "III.E.5." in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, Nord, France.[11][12] He is also memorialized in Regina, Canada.[13]
|
Combat record[1]
| No. |
Date/Time |
Aircraft/
Serial No. |
Opponent |
Result |
Location |
Notes |
| 1 | 31 May 1917
@ 1615 | Sopwith Pup
(N6188) | C | Out of control | Ostend | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants A. Shearer & Harold Stackard. |
| 2 | 1 June 1917
@ 0915 | Sopwith Pup
(N6188) | Halberstadt C | Out of control | Westende—Gistel | |
| 3 | 25 July 1917
@ 1730 | Sopwith Camel
(B3820) | C | Out of control | Off Westende | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants John Pinder, Oliver Redgate, Harold Mott, & Snell. |
| 4 | 5 September 1917
@ 0800 | Sopwith Camel
(B3832) | Albatros C | Out of control | Middelkerke—Nieuport | Shared with Flight Commander Stearne Edwards, and Flight Sub-Lieutenants Roy Brown, Oliver Redgate, & Arthur Wood. |
| 5 | 13 September 1917
@ c.1430 | Sopwith Camel
(B3832) | Albatros D.V | Out of control | East of Leke | Shared with Flight Commander Stearne Edwards and Flight Sub-Lieutenants John Hales, Oakley, & Ingleson. |
| 6 | 28 September 1917
@ 1610 | Sopwith Camel
(B6230) | Albatros D.V | Destroyed | Diksmuide | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants Oliver Redgate, John Hales, Merrill Taylor, & Cedric Edwards. |
| 7 | 2 October 1917
@ 1450 | Sopwith Camel
(B6230) | C | Out of control | Ostend—Slype | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenant Oliver Redgate. |
| 8 | 27 October 1917
@ 1040 | Sopwith Camel
(B6230) | Albatros D.V | Out of control | Slype | Shared with Flight Commanders Stearne Edwards & Harold Stackard, and Flight Sub-Lieutenants Francis Mellersh, John Hales, John Paynter, C. A. Narbeth, Arthur Wood, & Merrill Taylor. |
| 9 | 28 October 1917
@ 1230 | Sopwith Camel
(B6230) | Albatros D.V | Destroyed | Schoore | |
| 10 | 23 November 1917
@ 1220 | Sopwith Camel
(B6230) | Albatros D.V | Out of control | South of Diksmuide | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenant John Hales. |
| 11 | 26 March 1918
@ 0725 | Sopwith Camel
(B7247) | C | Captured | 1 mi (1.6 km) South of Becelaere | Shared with Flight Sub-Lieutenants Oliver Redgate, Merrill Taylor, & Squire. |
|
