James_Valentine_(aviator)

James Valentine (RFC officer)

James Valentine (RFC officer)

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Lieutenant-Colonel James Valentine DSO (1887 – 1917) was an early English aviator who died during the First World War, serving in the Royal Flying Corps.

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Early life

Valentine was born in Lambeth, London on 22 August 1887 the son of James and Fanny Valentine.[1][2] His father was a general manager of an insurance company in 1891.[3]

Aviator

Valentine gained his Royal Aero Club aviators certificate (No. 47) on 31 December 1910 at Brooklands Aerodrome using a Macfie Biplane.[2] In 1911, flying a Deperdussin, he was one of only four airmen to complete the Circuit of Britain race and was the only British aviator to compete in the Circuit of Europe race. He was one of the few competitors to complete the course.[4] In the Aerial Derby of eighty-one miles around London on 3 June 1912, Valentine was third flying a Bristol Prier monoplane.

In 1913 he married Louisa Eileen Knox in London.[5]

Royal Flying Corps

With the outbreak of the First World War Valentine joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1914. On 7 August 1917 Valentine died aged 29 as result of wounds at Kieff in Russia (now Kyiv, Ukraine).[1] He is commemorated on the Archangel Memorial to men who died in the north Russian campaign and whose graves are not known.[1]

Honours and awards

He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Aero Club for his aviation achievements in 1912[6] Valentine was awarded the second Royal Aero Club Special certificate on 6 December 1911;[7]

References

  1. [1]
    "James Valentine". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
  2. [2]
    Royal Aero Club Certificate No. 47 record card.
  3. [3]
    1891 Census of Thanet, RG12/728, Folio 78, Page 17, James Valentine aged 3 born Lambeth, London at 10, Fall Paragon, Margate, Kent.
  4. [4]
    Flight 23 Aug. 1917, p.872.
  5. [5]
    General Register Office index of marriages registered in April, May, and June 1915, - Name: James Valentine & Louisa E Knox, District: Westminster, London, Volume: 1A Page: 1045.
  6. [6]
    R.Ae.C. Silver Medals awarded in January 1912 Flight Magazine, 27 January 1912
  7. [7]
    Flight 16 Dec 1911
  8. [8]
    "No. 29357". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 November 1915. p. 11028.
  9. [9]
    "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1917. p. 5474.
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