Harold Hartney
| Harold Evans Hartney | |
|---|---|
Lieutenant Colonel Harold Evans Hartney, 27th Aero Squadron
|
|
| Born | 19 April 1888 Pakenham, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | 5 October 1945 Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
Canadian Militia Royal Flying Corps (United Kingdom) Air Service, United States Army |
| Years of service | 1914 - 1915 (Canada) 1915 - 1917 (UK) 1917 - 1918 (USA) |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit |
Canadian Militia
Royal Flying Corps |
| Commands held |
27th Aero Squadron 1st Pursuit Group |
| Battles/wars |
 World War I
|
| Awards | American Distinguished Service Cross, French Legion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre, Italian Medal for Military Valor |
Canadian Militia
Royal Flying Corps
Air Service, United States Army
Harold Evans Hartney was a Canadian-born World War I flying ace with the United States Army Air Service, credited with seven confirmed and one unconfirmed aerial victories.
Hartney graduated from University of Toronto in 1911 and worked in his brother's law office in Saskatoon. After earning a graduate degree at the University of Saskatchewan, he became a barrister. He joined the Saskatoon Fusiliers, and played cornet in the town band. He married in 1914, just prior to World War I's start.
On 28 October 1914, Hartney enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His Attestation Paper, filled out for his entry at Saskatoon, gives his height as 5 feet 9½ inches, his complexion as fair, and hair and eyes as brown. His next of kin is given as Irene McCeary Hartney, care of Russell Hartney. Harold Hartney claimed three years prior service as a lieutenant in the Harbord Cadets and as a trumpeter bandsman in the 48th Highlanders.
After he shipped out to England with the 28th Battalion C.E.F.in May 1915, he visited an aerodrome at Folkestone while training nearby on Dibgate Plains and crossed paths with fellow Canadian Billy Bishop. That incidental meeting at Folkestone Aerodrome steered Hartney to the Royal Flying Corps. On 21 October 1915, he transferred to the RFC.
By the beginning of the Somme Offensive, Hartney had been assigned to 20 Squadron as a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d pilot. On 1 July 1916, while flying over the developing ground attack, Hartney found himself under fire from a Fokker E.III. Hartney smacked his gunner alert, sideslipped from danger, and racked his Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d into an Immelmann turn. He came out slightly above the German, who was now in a head-on firing pass. Hartney's gunner fired five four-round bursts. Hartney's recollection was, "His tank ablaze, he pulled up almost directly in front of us, then whip-stalled to Eternity." Despite the flames, Hartney was credited with an "out of control" victory.
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