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Unit / Ship / Establishment:
3rd Squadron Australian Flying Corps
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Detail : |
| "Mike: No. 3 Squadron was formed at Point Cook, Victoria on 19 September 1916. Shortly afterwards, it moved to England for training, before becoming the first Australian Flying Corps (AFC) unit deployed to France in 1917, equipped with the R.E.8 two-seat reconnaissance/general purpose aircraft. To avoid confusion with the British No. 3 Squadron RFC, it was known to the British military as ""No. 69 Squadron RFC"",[1] until well into 1918. This terminology was never accepted by the squadron or the Australian Imperial Force. The squadron participated in bombing, artillery spotting and reconnaissance missions supporting ANZAC and other British Empire ground forces, and by the end of the War had flown over 10,000 operational hours, shooting down 51 enemy aircraft.[2] In April 1918, the squadron under Major David Blake, became responsible for the remains of the ""Red Baron"", Manfred von Richthofen, after he was shot down in its sector. Blake initially believed that one of the squadrons R.E.8s may have been responsible but later endorsed the theory that an Australian anti-aircraft machine gunner was responsible " |
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