Maurice Le Blanc-Smith
| Maurice Le Blanc-Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 February 1896 Leatherhead, Surrey, England |
| Died | 29 October 1986 (aged 90) England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1919 1921 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit |
No. 18 Squadron RFC No. 73 Squadron RFC/RAF |
| Battles/wars | World War I • Western Front |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Relations | Stanley Le Blanc-Smith (father) |
Major Maurice Le Blanc-Smith DFC (23 February 1896 – 29 October 1986) was a British World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.
Le Blanc-Smith's great-grandfather was Henry Le Blanc (1776-1855), born in Cavenham, Suffolk, one of 13 children of Thomas Le Blanc (1743–1801) and Felicia, née Pelham (1747–1840). The Le Blanc's trace their ancestry back to France. In 1792 Henry joined the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot and served in India, Scotland, Ireland and South Africa, before losing a leg to a Spanish cannonball while serving as a major in the Expedition to the Río de la Plata in 1806. He was invalided home to serve as lieutenant colonel of the 5th Royal Veteran Battalion in Guernsey, then as Captain of Invalids and Hospital Major at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. He somehow managed to see action during the battle of Waterloo in 1815, and was eventually promoted to colonel. He married Elizabeth McClintock of Drumcar, Ireland, in 1801 and they had four children. Their youngest child, Lucy Mary Le Blanc was born in Guernsey in 1813.
Lucy Mary married a clergyman, the Reverend Thomas Tunstall Smith (1810–1893), rector of Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Together they had eight children; five boys and three girls. All the boys took the surname Le Blanc-Smith. Their fifth child, and third boy, Stanley Le Blanc-Smith (1849–1922) married Amy Harris in 1880 in Westmorland, and lived in Leatherhead, Surrey, while working as a on the . They had three sons; Clive (1882–1907), Geoffrey (1884–1968) and Maurice.
Like his father, Maurice was educated at Radley College, and rowed for the First VIII in 1914.
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