Unidentified Caudron G.III near Redcar.
On an unknown date during the Summer of 1916 an unidentified Caudron G.III of RNAS Redcar suffered engine failure shortly after taking off from Redcar and crashed into farm buildings. The pilot was named as "FSL Tooth" elsewhere and I suspect his full identity is the name given below.
Pilot - Acting FSL Eric Adolphus Blagburn Tooth RNAS.
Eric Tooth received a commission on 30h April 1916 and was posted to RNAS Redcar on 10th June 1916. He was a pilot at this stage. His commission was terminated on 16th August 1916 and must be related to the flying accident at Redcar so the incident at Redcar must have been between the two dates and probably nearer the latter. His service record does not state that he sustained injuries but this seems to have been likely. Having had his commission in the RNAS terminated he took a commission in the RNVR. He later transferred to the technical branch of the RAF on its formation in 1918 and remained in the RAF for many years. He was awarded the MBE in the New Years Honours list in 1957. At the age of ninety, in 1981 he was the passenger of an aircraft flying back to the UK from Ostend when both the engines failed and the pilot was forced to ditch 400 yards off shore. He was rescued by boat. He died on 27th February 1990 in a nursing home in Cheltenham.