Francis S. Symondson
| Francis Stanley Symondson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 March 1897 Sutton, Surrey, England |
| Died | 1 May 1975 (aged 78) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1914–1919 1921 1939–1943 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit |
Honourable Artillery Company Glamorgan Yeomanry No. 29 Squadron RFC No. 66 Squadron RAF |
| Battles/wars | World War I • Sinai and Palestine Campaign • Western Front • Italian Front World War II |
| Awards |
Military Cross Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italy) |
Captain Francis Stanley Symondson MC (27 March 1897 – 1 May 1975) was a British World War I flying ace credited with 13 confirmed aerial victories. He survived over three years of ground warfare and overcame early setbacks as a fighter pilot on the Western Front to become an ace in Italy.
Symondson was born in Sutton, Surrey, the second of three sons born to Stanley Vernon Symondson, a ship broker, and his wife Jesse Kate (née Uridge). The census of March 1901 found him boarding in Margate, Kent. Symondson first flew before the war in a Bleriot aircraft with Frank Goodden in June 1914.
Symondson served three and a half years in the infantry before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. He first served as a trumpeter in the Honourable Artillery Company, before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, The London Regiment, on 18 March 1915. He later transferred to the Glamorgan Yeomanry (Welch Regiment), and was serving in Egypt when he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, in which he was appointed a flying officer on 23 May 1917. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July.
He was posted to No. 29 Squadron in France on 4 September 1917. He crashed three of the squadron's Nieuports in the next 16 days, and was sent back to England for further training. He was then posted to Italy to join No. 66 Squadron as a Sopwith Camel pilot. On 7 March 1918, he set fire to a kite balloon at Chiarano for his first victory. It was the beginning of a string of a dozen enemy losses, as Symondson destroyed another balloon and ten aircraft by 28 August 1918. On 15 September, he drove down an Austrian-Hungarian Berg D.I out of control for his thirteenth win. The following day, his Military Cross was gazetted. The citation read:
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