On 14th October 1917 this pilot was undergoing training at RNAS Redcar as part of the Flying School and flew solo for the first time in this aeroplane. He flew it four times on this date but on the fourth at 16.45hrs it crashed. His logbook stated that there was slight ground mist and that he remained in the air until it was nearly dark but misjudged his height and crashed.

Pilot - FSL Eric Henry Platt Bailey RNAS.

Eric Bailey was born on 25th March 1898 in Enfield, Middlesex and was the son of James Henry and Esther Bailey. He attended Hitchin Grammar School and joined the RNAS in 1916 at the bottom. He was granted commission in the RNAS on 22nd April 1917. He trained at RNAS Redcar Flying School between 8th September 1917 and 10th November 1917 but gained his Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate (Cert.No.5603) on 30th January 1918 at RNAS Cranwell. While at Redcar he crashed Longhorn N5334 on 14th October 1917 and Avro 504 1487 on 3rd November 1917. After further training at the Manston DH-4 School from 26th February 1918 he was posted to Dunkerque on 13th March 1918. He arrived at No.6 Squadron from 24th March 1918 (Naval 6). This unit became 206 Squadron RAF from 1st April 1918 and he transferred from the RNAS to the RAF on its formation the same month. He was hospitalised at St.Omer on 27th April 1918 suffering from scabies and was posted back to 206 Squadron on 23rd July 1918. On 11th August 1918 he was flying at the Front when his aeroplane, DH-9 C2199, was shot down in the area to the north of Lille. He is buried Lincelles Communal Cemetary, Lille, France and was twenty years old. He is commemorated on a family grave at Weaver Methodist Church Cemetery, Cheshire.

Correspondance with the pilot's nephew, Mr Jon Bailey, in May 2012 resulted in the first reference of this incident coming to light. The photographs shown here were kindly supplied by him and I thank him for allowing them to be shown on this webpage.