Thomas Baker aviator, was a distinguished Australian pilot who received many military medals for his heroic efforts in the First World War.

Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, DFC, MM & Bar (2 May 1897 – 4 November 1918) was an Australian soldier, aviator, and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Smithfield, South Australia, he was an active sportsman in his youth and developed a keen interest in aviation.

He was employed as a clerk with the Bank of New South Wales, before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, for service in World War I. Posted to an artillery unit on the Western Front, he was awarded the Military Medal for carrying out numerous repairs on a communications line while subject to severe artillery fire. In June 1917, Baker was awarded a bar to his decoration for his part in quelling a fire in one of the artillery gun pits that was endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high explosive.

In September 1917, Baker applied for a position as a mechanic in the Australian Flying Corps. He was instead selected for flight training, and was posted to courses in the United Kingdom. He graduated as a pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant in March 1918. Posted for active duty in France that June, Baker joined the ranks of No. 4 Squadron AFC. Over the next four months, he rose to the rank of captain and was credited with bringing down 12 German aircraft. He was shot down and killed on 4 November 1918. In February 1919, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Early life of Thomas Baker Aviator

Thomas Charles Richmond Baker was born in Smithfield, South Australia, on 2 May 1897, the eldest son of Richmond Baker, a schoolmaster and farmer, and his wife Annie Martha (née Gardner). He was educated at St Peter’s College in Adelaide. During his school years, Baker was an active sportsman, taking part in rowing, tennis and football, in addition to being a member of the cadet corps. In his youth, he acquired an avid interest in aviation, and the construction of model aeroplanes became “his chief hobby”. Graduating from secondary school in 1914, he gained employment as a clerk with the Adelaide branch of the Bank of New South Wales. During this time, he joined the 11th Royal Australian Engineers of the Citizens Military Force.

First World War

Australian Imperial Force

On 29 July 1915, Baker enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force for service during the First World War. Allocated as a reinforcement to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade with the rank of gunner, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Persic on 22 November, bound for Egypt. On arrival, Baker was posted to the 16th Battery before moving to France for service on the Western Front. Disembarking in France on 1 July 1916, Baker took part in the Somme offensive.

On 11 December 1916, Baker was engaged in battle with his unit near Gueudecourt. During the action, he was posted as a telephonist with the forward observation team sent to record the fall of the artillery and secure the range for a bombardment. Their position during this time was on a forward slope of the Australian frontline, which was subject to constant observation and the attention of German snipers.

Heroic efforts to keep communication lines open

Attempting to maintain communications, Baker ventured out on four occasions during the engagement, each time subject to the heavy artillery barrage from the German forces, and repaired the telephone line in thirty separate places. As a consequence, the 16th Battery was able to align its artillery barrage and destroy the Germans’ forward trench. Commended for his “great gallantry” as well as “good service and … great devotion to duty”, Baker was awarded the Military Medal. The announcement for the decoration was published in a supplement to the London Gazette on 19 February 1917.

In 1917, the 16th Battery was relocated to the Messines sector of the frontline in Belgium. On 16 March, Baker was admitted to hospital suffering from an illness; he returned to his unit six days later. During the afternoon of 21 June, the unit’s position was subject to a severe bombardment of artillery shelling, resulting in an order for all men to evacuate the gun pits and seek cover. As a consequence of the barrage, the camouflage covering one of the gun pits caught fire, endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high explosives.

Great personal risk averts major tragedy

The battery sergeant major immediately called for men to assist him in quelling the blaze; Baker and three others volunteered. Despite the continuous shellfire, the four men promptly set about retrieving water from a nearby well and shell holes with buckets “at great personal risk”, dousing the fire. The camouflage had been completely destroyed, several sandbags had caught fire, and a few rounds of ammunition were charred. As a result of their actions, Baker’s three companions were recommended for the Military Medal, and Baker for a bar to his.

Australian Flying Corps

In September 1917, Baker followed his ambition of joining the Australian Flying Corps and applied for a transfer to become an air mechanic when the opportunity arose. His application proved successful, though he was instead selected to become a pilot and was posted for flight training. Embarking for the United Kingdom the following month, he was posted to No. 5 Training Squadron as a cadet pilot for his initial aviation instruction. On 27 March, Baker graduated as a pilot in the Australian Flying Corps and was commissioned as a second lieutenant; he had completed his first solo flight earlier that month. In May, he was posted for a course at No. 2 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery.

Baker proceeded overseas to France on 15 June 1918 and, on arrival the following day, was posted to No. 4 Squadron AFC piloting Sopwith Camels. On 23 June, he flew his first operational sortie over the German lines; he was promoted to lieutenant four days later. On 31 July, Baker was among a formation of seven Camels tasked with carrying out a patrol over German-held territory. The group crossed over into German lines near Nieppe Forrest, and flew towards Estaires. The Camels soon intercepted a formation of seven Fokker D.VIIs, and the entire patrol immediately dived at the German aircraft. In the ensuing melee, Baker managed to force one of the aircraft down to the ground, thus scoring his first aerial victory.

Throughout August 1918, No. 4 Squadron “maintained a high operational tempo” as the Allies launched a new offensive on the Western Front. On 7 August, Baker and two others took off from their squadron aerodrome at Reclinghem; all three machines were carrying a heavy load of bombs. Airborne over Pont-du-Hem, the trio released their bombs over German billets in the area, before spotting two Albatros D.Vs. The three Australians closed in on the two aircraft. Baker engaged an Albatros, his fire severing the left-wing of the aircraft, effectively destroying the machine. Nine days later, a formation of 65 aircraft was assembled from No. 88 Squadron RAF, No. 92 Squadron RAF, No. 2 Squadron AFC and Baker’s No. 4 Squadron AFC to execute a mass raid on the German aerodrome at Haubourdin.

Australian pilots in successful mission

The fleet of aircraft was equipped with a range of incendiary and explosive bombs, in addition to machine-gun ammunition. Led by Captain Harry Cobby, the aircraft from No. 4 Squadron were the first to sweep down and assault the target. At one point, Baker pursued a staff car until the vehicle ran up an embankment and flipped over. He later reported that “No one left the car”. The raid, which was the largest aerial attack by Allied forces to that date, was highly successful; British estimates concluded that 37 German aeroplanes had been destroyed.

On 19 August, Baker led a patrol of six aircraft over Lys. Five days later, he shot down a German balloon while on a lone mission in poor weather, scoring his third aerial victory. At dawn on 30 August, Baker took off on a sortie with Lieutenants Roy King and Oscar Ramsay. Over Laventie, the trio encountered three DFW C.Vs; Baker and King each disposed of one of the aircraft. Baker was granted two weeks’ leave to the United Kingdom in early September. Towards the end of that month, No. 4 Squadron relocated to Serny and was soon after re-equipped with the Sopwith Snipe. By the time of the conversion, Baker had achieved flying ace status on the Sopwith Camel, having been credited with shooting down six German aircraft by early October.

Baker was promoted to temporary captain and made a flight commander in No. 4 Squadron on 24 October. Two days later, Baker and Lieutenant Thomas Barkell led a formation of nine Snipes. As the patrol drew near Tournai in the afternoon, they intercepted a group of 15 Fokker D.VIIs. The Snipes swept towards the German aircraft, and Baker attempted to engage the formation leader, but the machine guns on his Snipe jammed. He brought in his aircraft for a second attempt, and managed to shoot the Fokker down out of control. In all, the Australians destroyed five of the Fokkers before the engagement ended.

On 28 October, Baker was credited with the destruction of a further three German aircraft from two separate patrols into Belgium that day. During the second excursion, he brought one Fokker down out of control, before shooting the other down over Ath. He was airborne again on an offensive patrol the next day. Fifteen Snipes from No. 4 Squadron were detailed for the patrol, and as the party drew near Tournai they encountered approximately 60 Fokker planes already engaged with several British aircraft. Baker led five of the Snipes into the assault, but confusion reigned for several minutes before the men could gain their bearings in the fight. Baker assailed two Fokkers that had been pursuing another Snipe, and was able to destroy one of the aircraft.

Thomas Baker aviator scores five victories in just three days

On 30 October, “considerable activity” was observed at the German aerodrome in Rebaix, and a formation of aircraft from No. 2 Squadron were detailed to bomb the area; an escort of eleven Snipes—including Baker—from No. 4 Squadron was provided. As the bombing was taking place, several Fokker aircraft appeared and were intercepted by the Snipes. In the ensuing battle, Baker critically damaged one of the Fokkers, resulting in the aircraft dropping towards the ground tail-first on its back. The Fokker proved to be Baker’s twelfth, and final, aerial victory of the war; he had scored his last five victories in a period of three days.

On 4 November 1918, the whole of No. 80 Wing RAF—of which No. 4 Squadron was part—took to the sky in an effort to “harass the German retreat on the Leuze-Ath road” and to bomb the aerodrome to the east of Leuze. A formation of Sopwith Snipes from No. 4 Squadron had been utilised as an escort when the initial raid was carried out, and then to protect the bombers as they returned to the Allied lines. However, when the Australians had executed the latter duty, they were tailed by a patrol of twelve Fokkers. After seeing the bombers off, the Snipes wheeled around to confront the German aircraft. The battle raged for two or three minutes before dying out. As the Snipes re-grouped, they discovered that three pilots were missing; Baker was among the three. Baker and fellow ace Lieutenant Arthur Palliser were initially recorded as missing, but were later found to have fallen victim to Rittmeister Karl Bolle during the battle.

Legacy of Thomas Baker Aviator

Described as “the most gallant airman … and … a pilot far above the average” by one of the men in his squadron, Baker was buried in Escanaffles Communal Cemetery, Belgium. His aerial victories were broken down as seven aircraft and one balloon destroyed with an additional four planes driven down out of control, making him No. 4 Squadron’s fourth-highest scoring ace after Harry Cobby, Roy King and Edgar McCloughry. A stained-glass window at St John’s Church of England in Adelaide is dedicated to his memory. On 8 February 1919, the London Gazette carried the posthumous announcement of the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Thomas Baker, reading:

Air Ministry, 8th February, 1919.

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to confer the undermentioned Rewards on Officers and other ranks of the Royal Air Force in recognition of gallantry in flying operations against the enemy: —

AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS.

Lieut. Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, M.M. (Australian F.C.). (FRANCE)

This officer has carried out some forty low flying raids on hostile troops, aerodromes, etc., and has taken part in numerous offensive patrols; he has, in addition, destroyed eight hostile machines. In all these operations he has shown exceptional initiative and dash, never hesitating to lead his formation against overwhelming odds, nor shrinking from incurring personal danger.

Article from Wikipedia

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There’s not too many aviators left with Ron Dickenson’s kind of logbook. He’s 91, and has been a pilot since 1944.

Now, it seems his flying career could mark the rise and fall of general aviation in Australia.

Across the country, tiny airstrips are at risk. Sixty-one per cent of small aerodromes ran at a loss in 2014-15. Fast forward to 2020 – COVID-19 and the following recession and the future looks grim for smaller airstrips.

With expenditure expected to rise by 48 per cent in the next decade, the numbers don’t look good. But there was a golden age of Australian aviation and Mr Dickenson was part of it.

The Golden Age of Aviation

When he received his first pilot licence, it simply read: “Licence to fly flying machines.”

“We did anything. There must have been regulations for the airlines, but they didn’t seem to apply to private planes,” Mr Dickenson said.

“I used to do aerobatics over our home in Kew [in Melbourne]. Mum would come out and she’d wave a towel or a sheet, then I’d fly back again.”

But security and safety considerations have put an end to these fun-filled days of aviation. The sky is no longer what it was.

In 1944, Mr Dickenson began his training in the air force. At that time the military was where the development of most new planes and aviation technologies took place.

Today that’s not necessarily the case — with hybrid and electric planes being developed by the private sector.

Some are already on the market, but these short-range planes need an aviation ecosystem in which to operate. This means small airfields to land at.

Local Councils Now Control Many Small Airstrips

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Federal Government handed over the control of hundreds of tiny airports to city councils. This scheme known as ALOP, the Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan.

ALOP came with the caveat that the councils were not permitted to sell, lease or dispose of the aerodromes without the written consent of the secretary of the Department of Transport.

To some councils, this gift looked more like a burden, because it’s the council that now needs to find the funding for runway overhauls, landing lights and fencing.

The airfield at Kempsey on the mid north coast of NSW is a striking example.

In a recent judgment involving a collision between a kangaroo and a landing aeroplane at the airport, the judge found in favour of the plane owner.

The Kempsey Shire Council was liable for the cost of a new propeller worth almost $200,000.

The judge said the council knew about the kangaroo problem and should have put up a fence, which would have cost $100,000.

The council argued the money could have been better spent elsewhere and is appealing the decision.

The Battleground: Development vs. Aviation

The Australian Airports Association suggests as many as 50 per cent of Australia’s regional airports may be operating at a loss each year.

Many local councils can see more revenue in selling the land to real estate developers.

On Melbourne’s outskirts, airports like Geelong, Philip Island, Pakenham, Berwick, Wallan, Welshpool, Melton, Moorooduc and Labertouche have all gone this way.

The situation is not much better in NSW or Queensland.

In remote Australia, where cars are simply not an option, the problem of airport closures is not so bad.

Under the terms of ALOP, councils were legally required to keep airports as airports, but some have been mothballed prior to sale, forestalling any challenges.

This is how the situation in Kempsey could be heading, as well as in Gympie, Queensland, and in the Victorian towns of Mildura and Yarram.

What does the community and aviation stand to lose?

Aviators like Mr Dickenson are having to explain to the wider community how small airport closures affect them.

The benefits of tiny airports are harder to define than those of their large counterparts because they don’t measure passenger movements or represent regular flying schedules.

Small airstrips are needed for postal services, water bombing activity, air ambulances, the SES, police, tourism, crop dusting, survey planes, flight training schools and simple connectivity.

General aviation has long been a home of ideas, where knowledge, experience and innovation have helped drive the future of flying forward.

In Europe, tiny airports are being used to develop new environmentally and economically efficient aviation technologies.

But that culture is absent on Australia’s increasingly deserted small runways.

Article courtesy of the ABC.

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The Silver Centenary  Aircraft – Western Australia’s Oldest Aircraft
by Mervyn Prime

 

Western Australia’s oldest existing aircraft was built to commemorate the State’s centenary in 1929. It was constructed from chalk drawings sketched on the floor of a country town powerhouse.

A man with a vision to build an aircraft

In December 1931 approval was given to the Vacuum Oil Company to display the aircraft at the Narrogin Aerial Pageant, conditional upon the machine being flown solo to Narrogin and not flown at the Pageant itself. The 140 minute round trip was flown on December 5th and 6th 1931 and would prove to be the last time the machine took to the air. Although the aircraft’s log book showed it only made 21 flights, and was in the air for only 9 hours and 40 minutes, these figures must be viewed with some skepticism as several of the aircraft’s well publicised flights were not recorded in the log.

Ford and Shackles continued to seek to have the machine’s experimental licence upgraded to a full certificate of registration, but to no avail – the problem still being a lack of suitable drawings.

In July 1932 pilot George Lewis, later to gain fame as the operator of Goldfields Airways, wrote to the CAB seeking to use the Silver Centenary on a series of survey flights in rugged country north of Kalgoorlie. He estimated the flights, to locate likely gold bearing areas, would take in the vicinity of 20 flying hours and he intended to fit an auxiliary 54 litre fuel tank in the front seat to increase the machine’s endurance. Lewis also indicated that he would wear a parachute in case of emergency! He also told the CAB that his hire of the aircraft was to enable the builders to recoup some of their construction costs. Needless to say, in view of the aircraft’s experimental license status the application was refused.

In view of his inability to supply the CAB with the drawings they required, Ford returned the Silver Centenary to the Beverley powerhouse in 1933, and it remained there until his death in a road accident on July 15th 1963. The previous year the Western Australian Museum in Perth had expressed an interest in displaying the aircraft but, following his death, the townspeople of Beverley started a Selby Ford Memorial Fund with the intention of keeping the machine in their town.

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