Charles George Gass Squadron Leader Charles George Gass MC ( 18 April 1898 – March 1977 ) was the highest scoring observer ace during the First World War , with a total of 39 victories ( 16 solo ) scored serving as a gunner flying with various pilots . After working in the Post Office between the wars , he was recalled to the Royal Air Force in early 1940 . Early life and First World War . Gass was born in Chelsea , London in April 1898 . He originally joined the 2 / 24th Battalion , London Regiment of the Territorial Force and became a sergeant , the rank he held when he first entered a theatre of war on 25 June 1916 . He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant in 17th Battalion , London Regiment , and attached to the Royal Flying Corps from 1917 . On 26 March 1918 , he was assigned to No . 22 Squadron as an observer on Bristol F . 2b s , flying in France . The two seater " Brisfit " had a maximum speed of 123 mph , which made it as fast or faster than most enemy fighters , and was manoeuvrable to boot . It had a forward pointing Vickers machine gun for the pilot , and one or two Lewis machine gun s that could be slid around on their Scarff ring mount by the observer / gunner to cover a wide field of fire . Aerial victories . Gass soon showed his proficiency with the Lewis guns . He began by driving an Albatros D . V down out of control on 22 April 1918 . Then he began one of the most spectacular months in World War I aerial warfare . On 7 May , Gass was gunner on a Bristol piloted by ace Alfred Atkey ; Gass was in Atkey ' s plane by Atkey ' s request . They flew one of two Brisfits that took on 20 German scouts . Gass and Atkey destroyed five of the attackers , sending two of them down in burning meteors of falling wreckage . He nailed another German on the 8th while teamed with John Everard Gurdon . Then on the 9th , he and Atkey repeated themselves . Once again they flamed two Germans ; additionally , they destroyed another German and drove two down out of the battle . They then reeled off a series of multiple victory days . Two on the 15th ; three on the 19th ; three more on the 20th ; two each on the 22nd , 30th , and 31st ; three on the 27th . Gass had scored 28 times in the month , all but one in conjunction with Atkey . No one in World War I scored more victories in a single month . He officially transferred to the nascent Royal Air Force on 22 May 1918 . Gass and Atkey scored another double on 2 June , which were Atkey ' s final victories . Then Gass was teamed with Lieutenant Edwin Babbage , and scored twice on the 5th . On 26 July , he shot down another German while teamed with Lieutenant Samuel Thompson . In August , he was teamed with Lieutenant John Everard Gurdon , who had been the pilot of the other Brisfit on 7 May . They tallied five wins together , with the last coming on 13 August . Gass was transferred for pilot training soon after , but the war ended before he qualified for his wings . Gass ' s final tally totalled 39 . Broken down , they amounted to 5 destroyed in flames , including one victory which was shared with other planes ; 12 others destroyed ; 22 down " out of control " . It was the sort of performance that had garnered multiple decorations for single seat fighter pilots . For Gass , it brought a Military Cross gazetted on 16 September 1918 , the citation read : He received his MC from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 16 November 1918 . Interwar period . Gass ceased to be actively employed by the RAF on 11 April 1919 , and relinquished his Territorial commission in 17th Battalion , London Regiment on 30 September 1921 . He lived in South London after the war , the address given for despatch of his campaign medal s was 95 Flood Street , Chelsea . He married Geraldine Marie Insani in the Fulham registration district in the second quarter of 1921 . He joined the civil service as a Post Office clerk on 27 June 1922 . He joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers as a pilot officer on 30 March 1925 , and was promoted flying officer on 6 May , he left the reserve on 30 September 1928 . His wife petitioned for divorce in 1934 , they had had two sons , Geoffrey in 1922 and Donald in 1924 . Second World War and after . With the Second World War escalating , Gass was recommissioned as a pilot officer in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch , RAF Volunteer Reserve on 8 January 1940 . He was promoted war substantive flying officer on 7 September 1940 , and confirmed in that rank on 8 January 1941 . He was later promoted flight lieutenant , and on 1 January 1944 , temporary squadron leader . He remarried , to Kathleen Fitzgerald , in the first quarter of 1944 . He finally retired from the RAFVR on 10 August 1954 , retaining the rank of squadron leader .