Full medal write up
Lookbook belonged to Sub Flight Lieutenant G A Wright, a pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service/Royal Air Force. He flew operational over the French Coast and Channel in 1918 and in 1919, the Black Sea during the Russian Civil War, seeing a good deal of action in the latter. Almost every flight has notes in the 'Remarks' section, giving the reader a good insight to early aviators flying experiences both training fand operationally with seaplanes.
Logbook starts with training flights with Caudron G3’s on 21 September 1917 and continues throughout his training at various establishments, including Killingholme until end of May 1918. Posted to Dover Seaplane Station on 17 June 1918, his first flight was the following day. Piloting 260hp Short’s, he flew patrols over the Channel and French Coast until his last flight on 11 August 1918, when he notes ‘Dropped bomb on oil SSE Dungness’
Having been attached to HMS Empress, a converted aircraft carrier from a steam packet ship, his next flight recorded isn’t until 13 November 1918. Piloting a 260hp Short, he notes 'Escorted Allied Fleet into Constantinople' and another flight later that day ‘Searching for seaplane from Manxman, presumed down’. He takes part in just 3 more flights that year and his not flying again until April 1919, by which time Empress was operating in the Black Sea during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War
In the months of April and May, Wright would fly on 26 operational flight, both reconnaissance and bombing over hostile territory during the Russian Civil War of 1919. During this period he piloted Short 184 seaplanes, flying over the Crimea, including the Gulf of Perekop and Sebastopol. A few examples of notes to flight are as follows: 'Passenger Russian Officer, Reconnoitred Bolshevik positions, fired gun at transport', 'Bombed and Machine gunned trenches, Heavily fire on, hit several times'. ‘Reconnoitred Bolshevik positions fired gun at transport’, ‘Attacked armoured train’, ‘Reconnaissance, sighted HA’ etc etc. His final entry and flight is on 12 May 1919.
Additional to the logbook are 5 photocopied reconnaissance reports for flights in Russia, these filled in a signed by Wright’s observer, 2/Lieut J S Nichol. It’s not clear where these came from, perhaps a museum of such has Nichol’s archive:
17/4/19 – ‘Reconnaissance of Southern Area of Sevastopol’
29/4/19 – ‘Bombing Raid’ – Armoured train
29/4/19 – ‘Bombing Raid on Armoured train’ – this later same day
30/4/19 – ‘Spotting for HMS Emperor of India’
30/4/19 – ‘Spotting for HMS Emperor of India’ – as above but later in the day
At the start of the logbook, Wright he notes the aircraft types he flew: Avro, Curtis 90hp, Bristol, BE 2E, Bristol Scouts, Sopwith Strutters, FBA, Caudron G3 and Short 150hp, 225 hp, 240hp and 260hp. All of Wright’s operational flights are with 'Short' sea planes.
WW1 logbooks to naval pilots are relatively scarce but this is a rare piece due to the Russian Civil War service.