Harold Stackard Lieutenant Harold Francis Stackard ( 2 March 1895 – 24 November 1949 ) was a First World War British flying ace credited with fifteen aerial victories . In addition to serving as a pilot during the war , he was a Royal Air Force instructor . Background . Harold Francis Stackard , son of Stephen and Mary Ann Lydia Pipe Stackard , was born on 2 March 1895 in Norwich . His birth was registered in the second quarter of 1895 . He was the second of five children . At the time of the 1901 census , his family was still living in Norwich and his father was described as a commercial traveller in the tea trade . However , by 1911 , the family had moved to Muswell Hill , a suburb of London . His father , Stephen Francis Stackard ( 1861 – 1918 ) , was a glass bottle manufacturer . Military career . Harold Stackard initially was a subaltern in the Royal Naval Division . He served for five months on HMS " Oratava " of the 10th Cruiser Squadron . After serving in France ( 1914 ) and Gallipoli ( 1915 ) , he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service in October 1916 . On 7 December 1916 , Stackard was promoted from Probationary Flight Officer to Flight Sub - Lieutenant . On 26 December 1916 , he was the pilot of Bristol Scout ( N5405 ) when its undercarriage collapsed upon landing at the Royal Naval Air Station at Redcar in Yorkshire . After his training was completed , the pilot spent eight months on the Western Front with No . 9 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service . Despite spending four years in the service , having been wounded , and having been credited with fifteen aerial victories , Stackard does not appear to have been decorated . Harold Stackard scored his first victory on 2 May 1917 when , from his Sopwith Pup , a single - seat biplane with serial number 9916 , he destroyed a two - seat aircraft over Middelkerke , West Flanders , Belgium . The victory was shared with a Canadian , Flight Sub - Lieutenant Harold Mott . However , on the morning of 4 May 1917 , Stackard was shot down and crashed northeast of Ypres . On 31 May 1917 , while piloting a Sopwith Pup , he sent a two - seater out of control over Ostend , West Flanders . The kill was shared with Flight Commander Fred Banbury and Flight Sub - Lieutenant Shearer . Stackard scored his third victory , from the single - seat Sopwith Triplane ( N5451 ) . On 8 June 1917 , he sent an Albatros D . III out of control over Diksmuide , West Flanders . On 14 June 1917 , Flight Sub - Lieutenant Harold F . Stackard was reported wounded . That report may refer to the May incident . Stackard ' s remaining twelve victories were all from Sopwith Camel aircraft , single - seat biplanes . His next two kills were both from Sopwith Camel ( B6204 ) . On 3 September 1917 , he destroyed an Albatros D . III southeast of Pervijze , West Flanders . It was shared with Flight Commander Joseph Fall , Flight Sub - Lieutenant J E Scott , and Flight Sub - Lieutenant Arthur Wood . The following day , Stackard destroyed a DFW C over the Nieuwpoort - Middelkerke area . He shared that fifth victory with Joseph Fall and J . E . Scott . Pilot Stackard had his sixth triumph on 6 September 1917 , when he drove an Albatros C out of control over Middelkerke . It was shared with Arthur Wood , Flight Sub - Lieutenant Hazel Wallace , J . E . Scott , and Joseph Fall . Stackard racked up his seventh victory on 9 September 1917 while piloting his Sopwith Camel ( B6204 ) . He sent an Albatros D . V out of control east of Middelkerke , aided by Joseph Fall . Pilot Stackard scored a double kill on the afternoon of 11 September 1917 from his Sopwith Camel ( B3863 ) . He destroyed two Albatros D . V aircraft over Leke , West Flanders , one in flames . He shared both kills with Joseph Fall and Arthur Wood . His tenth victory occurred on 13 September 1917 , when he sent another Albatros D . V out of control east of Leke . It was shared with Flight Sub - Lieutenant Stearne Edwards . He scored another double victory on 24 September 1917 from Sopwith Camel ( B3883 ) . First , he sent an Albatros D . III out of control over Leke , shared with Joseph Fall and Arthur Wood . Then , he drove an Albatros D . V out of control over Middelkerke . On 30 September 1917 , Stackard racked up yet another double victory , again with Sopwith Camel ( B3883 ) . South of Middelkerke , an Albatros C was destroyed , and , one hour later , another was sent out of control . The first that day was a shared victory , with Joseph Fall and Arthur Wood . Stackard ' s fifteenth and final victory took place on 27 October 1917 . From Sopwith Camel ( B6327 ) , he sent an Albatros D . V out of control . It was shared with Stearne Edwards and others . The pilot was an instructor at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire by 1918 . The 2 January 1918 edition of the Supplement to the Edinburgh Gazette announced his promotion to Lieutenant . Harold Stackard transferred to the No . 157 Squadron , formed in July 1918 , of the Royal Air Force . He had the opportunity to fly the Sopwith Salamander fighter before he left the service . The Salamander had been developed as a ground attack aircraft . However , the war ended before the plane saw service in the squadrons . After the war . On 7 Nov 1920 , Harold Francis Stackard of Muswell Hill , London , married Ruth Mary Savage , daughter of Herbert Francis Savage and his wife Emma Florence King Savage , of Winchester . Harold eventually became branch manager of Commercial Union Assurance Company , an insurance company , in Calcutta , India . Stackard died at age 54 on 24 November 1949 at Fittleworth , West Sussex , England . His widow survived him by nearly 46 years , and died at the age of 100 , having been born on 25 July 1895 , and having her death registered in October 1995 .