On 13th February 1916 this RNAS Scarborough Home Defence Flight aeroplane suffered an engine failure in flight and was forced landed near Robin Hoods Bay where it sustained some damage. The pilot survived and was almost certainly on an anti-Zeppelin patrol at the time of the incident.
Pilot - Flt Cdr Christopher Draper RNAS.
Avro 504c 8601 was built to contract 61138/15 by A.V. Roe Ltd in Manchester and was delivered to RNAS Scarborough for erection on 31st January 1916. It joined the Home Defence Flight. On 13th February 1916 it was force landed at Robin Hoods Bay but after a quick repair it returned to RNAS Scarborough on 15th February 1916. It transferred to RNAS Killingholme on 18th February 1916 but was back at RNAS Scarborough the next day. It suffered repairable damage in an accident at Speeton on 2nd April 1916 and was transported to RNAS Atwick for assessment but was further damaged in a gale at Atwick on 16th April 1916 and was considered beyond economic repair and deleted from charge on 1st May 1916.
Christopher Draper was one man that should be called a "legend"; he seemingly did everything with his life. He became an Ace during the First World War after shooting down a total of nine enemy aircraft; eight when he was serving in the RNAS with No.6 and No.8 Naval Squadron's and that last after he transferred to the newly created RAF in 1918, serving with the re-named Naval 8, 208 Squadron RAF. He would later become known as "The Mad Major" for his flying exploits.
Chris Draper was born on 15th April 1892 in Bebington, he gained his Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate on 6th October 1913 (Cert.No.646) and joined the RNAS in January 1914. During his time with the RNAS he rose to become Squadron commander of No.8 Naval Squadron, famously known as ‘Naval 8’, by late-1918 he was the Commanding Officer of 206 Squadron RAF. For his service in WW1 he was awarded the DSC (on 26th April 1918) and the French Croix de Guerre. After WW1 he initially left the RAF and worked as a second hand car salesman; this did not work out and he returned to flying in 1919 as chief test pilot for B.A.T. but was nearly killed in a flying accident in March 1920 at Hendon. B.A.T. later folded and he applied for and was granted a commission in the RAF in 1921 but left later the same year. He then took up work as a stunt pilot in films and later did some acting work. His nick-name "The Mad Major" came about through his wish to fly under all of London's Thames bridges in protest of the government's treatment of war veterans at that time. The first time he attempted the feat he only managed two bridges because of poor weather. Later in the 1930's he became a British secret agent and served as a double agent to Nazi Germany. When the Second World War begun he returned to the Navy and flying and commanded 777 Squadron. In total he logged over 17,000 hours flying. Post-WW2 he left the Navy and returned to acting but in the 1950's he was again upset by the government's treatment of war veterans so attempted his London bridge stunt to draw publicity to his cause in May 1953. This time flying Auster G-AGYD he managed fifteen of the eighteen bridges but was arrested on landing. This was to be his last flight and he never flew again. He published an auto-biography in the 1960s entitled "The Mad Major". He died on 16th January 1979 in Camden, London.
The following is taken from the 208 Squadron / RAF Valley website and adds detail into his WW1 work.. "Naval 8 Squadron moved to Mont St Eloi, where they supported the offensive at the Battle of Messines in the Ypres Campaign, and it was there that the Squadron reached its peak in World War I. Given the job of attacking the high-flying German artillery observation machines, it soon found that by sending up aircraft when the Germans were reported, it was too late. So Naval 8 had to maintain a standing patrol high over the Front, as most interceptions took place at upwards of 17,000 feet. This work was extremely successfully accomplished, but lacked the glamour of the big dogfights. Whilst at Mont St Eloi, more re-equipment took place with Sopwith Camels succeeding the triplanes. Squadron aircrew carried over the names they had given to their original mounts to personalise the new 150 hp machines. Flight Commander Jenner-Parson took 'Angel' from his Triplane N5468, whilst Flight Commander Arnold transferred 'Dixie Lee' to his new Camel. Shortly after, Arnold left the Squadron in a time when several new faces arrived, including a prospective new Commanding Officer, just one year and a day after the Squadron's formation. After a rest period in Eastchurch, Flight Commander Christopher Draper DSC reported to Wing Captain Lambe at Dunkirk Headquarters to be told: 'I'm sending you to Number 8 Squadron. It is my best Squadron. Bromet is in command and it will be a great opportunity for you.' As a flight commander, Draper and his counterpart Munday decided to find some more offensive activities and specialised in attacking kite-balloon sheds at night with bombs slung under their Camels' wings, registering some success in this original field of operations As the year drew on, fighting flared up on the ground around Cambrai and Naval 8 transferred to Close Air Support duties, hedge hopping around on reconnaissance flights, low level strafing, bomber escort duties and 'interference flying,' preventing enemy aircraft from spotting artillery positions. Such was the danger to the pilots of Naval 8 that no fewer than 8 were decorated for gallantry in January 1918. At the end of October 1917, Christopher Draper succeeded Geoffrey Bromet as the Commanding Officer of Naval 8 and immediately built on the tradition that the Squadron had already established with an indomitable spirit (it was the same Draper that flew an Auster through Tower Bridge in 1954 'to liven things up a bit'). At the end of the year, the Squadron returned to its high-altitude work, achieving further victories, and then in the Spring of 1918 it was returned to Walmer in Kent for a well-deserved rest.
At the end of March 1918, however, things were so desperate in France that Naval 8 was rushed back to help stem the German advance. On 1st April, however, Naval 8 Squadron RNAS became No 208 Squadron in the newly-formed Royal Air Force with its Commanding Officer in the new rank of Major (the Squadron did not take kindly to the change at all and continued to call itself 'Naval 8' and, even when Major Draper left the Squadron in 1919, he and at least one other member of the Unit were still wearing their naval uniforms!). A change in the Squadron aircraft markings had also taken place. Until then, Naval 8 had been distinguished by a white disc on the fuselage side aft of the roundels, but from March 1918, its aircraft were painted with 2 vertical bars aft of the roundels, sloping in at the top. The newly-labelled 208 Squadron went first to Teteghem and then to La Gorgue, supporting the Portuguese defence of the line. It was a tragic time for 208 Squadron as it was there that the Portuguese line collapsed and 208 was overrun by the advancing Germans. Unable to fly its aircraft out due to fog, it had to burn them on the airfield and dash away in what transport it had. This abridged version of Major Draper's report tells the sorry tale:
'With reference to the destruction of the 16 machines of this Squadron, I have the honour to submit the following report: About 4:00 am on the morning of the 9th (April) we were aroused by the sound of very heavy gunfire, which increased in intensity towards dawn. There was considerable hostile shelling of Merville, La Gorgue and the surrounding districts. A large number of French civilians were passing west through our Camp, followed by considerable Portuguese troops in open disorder, without either rifles or equipment an apparently un-officered. I gave orders to have the machines removed from the hangars and spread out over the aerodrome in case of a concentrated shelling of the hangars. I ordered officers and men to pack all gear and stores as quickly as possible.
I decided I was not justified in risking personnel by flying away in fog, though a majority volunteered to try. We collected the machines in one bunch in the middle of the aerodrome, the idea being for everyone to clear out and leave one officer with a cycle and sidecar to stand by until the last moment with orders to destroy the machines if necessary. I was unable to get in touch with XV Corps, so I ordered the telephone exchange and compass station to pack up.
The ammunition supply column which had been parked on the road alongside the hangars had gone, their guns having been captured. The machines were then burnt and everyone cleared out by 11:30.'
Back at Serny aerodrome, Major Draper and his Squadron were re-united, re-equipped and ready for action again within 48 hours. In May 1918, they were joined by Flight Lieutenant Henry Botterell and, in the 5 months that followed, 208 Squadron engaged the enemy 103 times and brought down 86 aircraft with only 6 casualties of their own. So Major Draper was heartened , and much relieved no doubt, by a letter from Air Commodore Lambe that arrived after one of the Squadron's better days, just less than 2 weeks after La Gorgue, which read:
'Dear Draper, Hearty congratulations to you and the Squadron on the success of yesterday. I hope you will keep it up. I am glad that the Squadron is doing so well. Yours sincerely, C L Lambe.'
In July 1918, 208 Squadron moved to Tramecourt, where one of its defence responsibilities was HM King George V, who was then residing in a nearby chateau. In September, however, it returned to its original 22 Wing and moved to the bleak airfield at Foucacourt, right on the Somme. From there, it fought on until October, when signs of the final German collapse were showing. It then moved to Estree-en-Chaussee, where the Squadron stayed for only 17 days before moving on to Moritz where it was re-equipped with the Camel's successor, the Sopwith Snipe. Before 208 Squadron could fly the Snipe in action, however, the action ceased and the Squadron carried out its last line patrol at 10:00 am on Armistice Day, 11th November 1918. Immediately following the Armistice, 208 Squadron became part of the Army of Occupation, where it spent 10 months between Stree, Heumar and Eil, defending the peace in Belgium and Germany. In December 1918, Major Draper handed over command to Major Smart, who eventually brought the Squadron home to Netheravon in England where it was disbanded on 7th November 1919."