Gordon Apps
| Gordon Frank Mason Apps | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Mable" |
| Born | 3 May 1899 Lenham, Kent, England |
| Died | 24 October 1931 Peterboro, Ontario, Canada |
| Allegiance | England |
| Service/branch | Aviation |
| Rank | lieutenant |
| Unit | No. 66 Squadron RAF |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
Lieutenant Gordon Frank Mason Apps (3 May 1899 – 24 October 1931) was a British-born World War I flying ace credited with 10 aerial victories. After working for the Imperial Wireless Chain in England postwar, he returned to Canada and joined the nascent Royal Canadian Air Force. He performed pioneering aerial photography survey work while in the RCAF.
Gordon Frank Mason Apps was born on 3 May 1899 in Lenham, Kent. He was the second oldest of the four sons of Kate Helena and Henry Apps, a sanitary inspector. Gordon Apps first attended the local Lenham School, then Sutton Valence School. Once educated, he worked for about a year and a half at the Tilling-Hastings munitions and engine factory.
Gordon Apps followed his elder brother into the Artists Rifles in 1917; he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in late August. His training took him successively through No. 2 Officer Cadet Wing and No. 2 School of Instruction at Oxford before he transferred to No. 9 Training Squadron at Norwich for flight training on Maurice Farman Shorthorns and Longhorns. After soloing, he shipped out to RAF Turnberry's Gunnery School, then to RAF Ayr's Fighting School. He then went on to Shawbury to polish his skills in both 67 and 10 Training Squadrons. On 22 November 1917, he was forwarded to Italy to join 66 Squadron, arriving 29 December 1917.
On 11 March 1918, he was on patrol at 14,000 feet (4,300 m) altitude with Alan Jerrard and Peter Carpenter when they attacked half a dozen enemy airplanes. Apps sent one down out of control; Carpenter saw it drop into a deep gully. Later that month, on the 28th, Apps fired 300 rounds of machine gun ammo into an enemy Albatros D.III, chasing it downwards from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) to just 400 feet (120 m); he was credited with its destruction over Spresiano.
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