H.D. Harvey-Kelly
| H.D. Harvey-Kelly | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Bay |
| Born |
9 February 1891 Teignmouth, Devon, England |
| Died | 29 April 1917 (aged 26) near Arras, France |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
British Army Royal Flying Corps |
| Years of service | 1908–1917 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit |
No. 2 Squadron RFC No. 19 Squadron RFC No. 56 Squadron RFC Royal Irish Regiment |
| Commands held |
No. 19 Squadron RFC No. 56 Squadron RFC |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards |
Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches |
| Relations |
Charles Harvey-Kelly (brother) Lionel Dunsterville (Uncle) |
Hubert Dunsterville Harvey-Kelly DSO (1891–1917) was a British First World War pilot who was credited with being the first Royal Flying Corps (RFC) pilot to land in France in the war, and of being the first RFC pilot to down an enemy aircraft. He was eventually shot down during Bloody April and died of head wounds in a German hospital.
The aircraft he flew while a lieutenant, the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2, along with a plaque, hangs in the main hall of the Imperial War Museum in London.
Bay was the son of Colonel H.H. Harvey-Kelly (Indian Army), and nephew of General Lionel Dunsterville. Although the Harvey-Kelly family were from County Westmeath, Ireland H.D. was born in Devon, and lived a while at Berry Pomeroy, the Dunsterville family home in Devon. He attended Bedford Modern School with his brother Charles Hamilton Grant Hume Harvey-Kelly.
On leaving Sandhurst, he applied to the Royal Irish Regiment, joining them on 5 October 1910 and being commissioned on 23 October 1910. He gained his Royal Aero Club aviation certificate No.501 on 30 May 1913 in a Maurice Farman Biplane at the Central Flying School, Upavon. He was commissioned into the RFC Reserve on 14 August 1913 before joining No2 Squadron based in Montrose, Scotland, a new base set up to patrol the North Sea and protect the fleet.
At the beginning of World War I 'Bay' was with No. 2 Squadron RFC. They were ordered to cross the channel into France. He flew a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 from Montrose in Scotland and a photograph of his aircraft, with him lying next to a haystack smoking a cigarette, is in the main Hall of the Imperial War Museum in London. It reads "Lieutenant H D Harvey-Kelly, the first British pilot to land in France after the declaration of war, rests his BE2A near Whitby, Yorkshire, in August 1914, during a stop in a flight south from Montrose".
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