April 13, 1917 RIP Great Uncle

On this day in 1917 my Great Uncle Lt. William James Chalk was flying as an observer in an RE8 biplane.  He and his pilot were joined by 5 other RE8's who unfortunately never met up with the fighters that were supposed to cover them as they flew over enemy territory.  The air cover over the German lines was provided by none other than Baron Manfred von Richtofen's Flying Circus and it's many aces.  Sadly, the 6 RE8's had little defense against the cream of the German air force in their newest fighter, the Albatross.  Within short order all 6 RE8's were shot down in flames, one by none other than the Red Baron himself.  April of 1917 soon became known as 'Bloody April' as the German pilots in their more advanced aircraft dominated the skies.  

Was he flying in the RFC?

It was an RFC aircraft, but he wasn't the pilot, only an observer.  The RE8's belonged to 59 Sqn and my great Uncle was a member of the 100th Battalion Winnipeg Grenadiers who went up to see the effects of an artillery barrage in the Arras region the day before.  The average flying life of a RFC pilot in Arras in April was 18 hours and from 4 to 8 April, the RFC lost 75 aircraft and 105 aircrew.  You can imagine the courage it took to go up in a slow, lumbering stringbag of an aircraft especially in light of the losses already suffered that month.

You should not drink Hippies when posting.