Reginald Morse CHARLEY 1892-1986 MC & Croix De G. (General)

by ChrisW , Thursday, September 26, 2013, 16:34 (4077 days ago)

I was doing a bit of work on my tree last night and to my surprise I found a WW1 flying ace amongst my ancestors. This made an exciting change from colliers!

Reginald Morse Charley was born on the 3rd August 1892 in Viney Hill. His parents were James Smith Charley & Eva Morse. You won't find a baptism on this site as most of my family were Non Conformists.

Reginald can be found in Bishopston, Bristol in 1911. He was an Electrical Engineer Student lodging with the Griffin family. He qualified in the same year and then in February 1914 he went to work in Pittsburgh PA. It would appear he also met his bride-to-be Mary Slawter while over there. In 1915, he joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada. By the middle of 1916, he was serving back in England in No. 59 Squadron. In December 1916, he was transferred to 54 Squadron, which deployed to France. Charley scored six confirmed victories during 1917, with another one unconfirmed. He even found time to marry Mary Elizabeth Slawter in the same year. He became C Flight Commander in September. In November, he was transferred to Home Establishment; he spent the last year of the war at the Armament Experimental Station. Reginald was awarded the Military Cross and the French Croix De Guerre.

Upon discharge in 1919, he returned to America to work for the English Electric Company. He retired in 1960, and died shortly after his 94th birthday in 1986, in Yorkshire.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/charley.php

You can see a photograph of him on the above site.