Jeff - Glad you enjoyed it!

I see he even has his own Wiki page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Charley

altho to be honest I now wish I hadn't seen that - without in any way wishing to knock the illustrious career of clearly a very brave man indeed, I was excited to read he worked for English Electric. This immediately brought back memories of my first airshow at little Staverton near Gloster mid 70s, and the display by the English Electric Lightning jet interceptor of the Cold War era. This air-dragster was two jet engines with a seat attached, all immense power & noise as it takes off & climbs like a space rocket !. I was so hoping your Reg had maybe played a part in this iconic aircraft's history, yet in fact he was very wisely & safely working for the civil core of the business, which probably helped him lead such a long and hopefully happy life.

Thanks so much for telling his story, and even bigger thanks and huge respect to Reginald for his incredible efforts during The Great War.
Jeff

PS did you see this week's Who Do You Think You Are ?, if not try and do so via the BBC iPlayer; it discusses the career of Samuel Cody who was a very important figure in early British Military aviation at Farnborough, nowadays the Royal Aircraft Establishment
http://www.historicfarnborough.co.uk/rae.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Aircraft_Establishment
Reginald's work with the Armament Experimental Station would have almost certainly involved the RAE. During my comparitively-insignificant career in aerospace/defence companies I worked at RAE a few times, and more often MoD Boscombe Down which replaced Martlesham Heath in Suffolk which I suspect was perhaps the AEE where Reginald worked. Researching the National Archive and RAF Hendon files may clarify this.

David was the son of the aforementioned Reginald Morse Charley & Eva Morse.

See here for more information: http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/6071

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.