Charles Collet

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Charles Herbert Collet DSO, was a British Naval airman during the First World War, regarded as one of the best Naval airmen of his day.[1].

Contents

[edit] Background

Charles Collet was born in India in around 1888, the son of an engineer James Francis Herbert Collet and his wife Teresa Collet (nee Pilley). For a time the family lived on Guernsey. At the time of his death, Charles Collet's parents lived in Woodleigh, West End, Southampton.[2] He was educated at Dulwich College.[3]

[edit] Düsseldorf Air Raid, September 1914

On 22 September 1914, Flight Lieutenant Collet flew two hundred miles to Düsseldorf and bombed the Zeppelin shed there. Despite being hit, he returned safely.[4] For this act he received the Distinguished Service Order.[5]

Collet's feat was described by Frederick A. Talbot:

Flight Lieutenant Collet approached the Zeppelin shed at Düsseldorf at an altitude of 6,000 feet. There was a bank of mist below, which he encountered at 1,500 feet. He traversed the depth of this layer and emerged therefrom at a height of only 400 feet above the ground. His objective was barely a quarter of a mile ahead. Travelling at high speed he launched his bombs with what proved to be deadly precision, and disappeared into cover almost before the enemy had grasped his intentions.[6]

[edit] Other notable achievements

Collet was also the first Naval officer to loop the loop.[7] He was promoted Captain in his secondary regiment, the Royal Marine Artillery.[8] [9] Apart from the Distinguished Service Order, he was also twice mentioned in despatches.[10] He achieved the rank of Flight Commander in the Royal Naval Air Service before his death.

[edit] Death

Collet died on 19 August 1915 and is buried at the Lancashire Landing Cemetery in Turkey.[11]


[edit] Further reading

  • Flight-Lieutenant Collet's Daring: The Bomb-Dropper's Weapon; and Objectives of the British Aerial Raid into Germany, in The Illustrated War News, 30 September 1914, p. 22
  • John William Ransom Taylor, Air Facts and Feats (Two Continents Publishing Group, 1974)


[edit] References

  1. ^ Edmund Burke (editor), (1916), Annual Register, page 162, (Rivingtons)
  2. ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission COLLET, CHARLES HERBERT
  3. ^ Hodges, S, (1981), God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College, page 100, (Heinemann: London)
  4. ^ Captain Logan Howard-Smith, (2005) Thrilling Stories of the Great War: Heroic Incidents and Startling Events of the World War on Land and Sea in the Air and Under the Water, page 121, (Kessinger Publishing)
  5. ^ Edmund Burke (editor), (1916), Annual Register, page 162, (Rivingtons)
  6. ^ Frederick A. Talbot, (1997), Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War, Chapter X page 40, (The World Wide School: Seattle)
  7. ^ H.V. Hodson (editor), (1916), The Annual Register, page 162, (Longmans)
  8. ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission COLLET, CHARLES HERBERT
  9. ^ H.V. Hodson (editor), (1916), The Annual Register, page 162, (Longmans)
  10. ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission COLLET, CHARLES HERBERT
  11. ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission COLLET, CHARLES HERBERT

[edit] External links

http://www.gallipoli.com.tr/pages/memorials_cemeteries/helles/lancashire_landing.htm