Charles Burke ( British Army officer ) Lieutenant - Colonel Charles James Burke DSO ( 1881 or 82 – 9 April 1917 ) was an officer in the Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Flying Corps and a military aviation pioneer . Charles Burke was born in 1881 or 1882 and he was the youngest son of the Mr M C C Burke of Ballinhone House , Armagh , Ireland . Military service before World War I . Burke ' s military service began as a soldier in the British Army and he served in the Boer War during which time he received the Queen ' s medal with two clasps . In 1902 , at the end of the War , he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment and after several years of regimental service , including three years with the West African Frontier Force , he was promoted to captain in September 1909 . The following year Burke travelled to France where he learned to fly in a Farman biplane , gaining his Aéro - Club de France certificate in the process . After his return to England , Burke was employed at the Army ' s Balloon School . In early 1911 , Burke was involved in conducting heavier - than - air aircraft tests at the Balloon Factory . On 7 January 1911 Burke flew a Farman aircraft for two miles over Laffan ' s Plain at 50 to 80 feet and landed near the Balloon Factory . A few minutes later , Burke attempted a second flight . However , after only 50 yards he stalled and the aircraft came to earth on its right wing , cart - wheeled and disintegrated . Burke received injuries in the crash . Despite this experience , Burke was not deterred from flying . In July of the same year , he flew from Salisbury Plain to Aldershot and back and later on he made a return flight to Oxford . Burke was also one of the earliest British Army officers to consider air power in depth . In 1911 , whilst serving as a captain in the Air Battalion , Burke wrote the first air power article to be published in the Royal United Services Institute Journal . In his article Burke compared the reconnaissance activities of cavalry to those of aircraft and observed that just as opposing cavalry might be drawn into battle , so could aircraft . In 1912 Burke wrote his 29 maxims for flying , including : On 13 May 1912 , Burke became the commanding officer of the Flying Corps ' No . 2 Squadron . During the next two years , Burke trained his squadron in aerial reconnaissance . In September 1912 , Burke took part in the Army Manoeuvres . Burke was responsible for the control of nine aircraft under the direction of Major Frederick Sykes . On 13 February 1913 , Burke lead five aircraft of No . 2 Squadron from their base at RAE Farnborough , north in a series of stages over the following 13 days . The aircraft landing at Upper Dysart Farm on 26 February , south of Montrose , Forfarshire , Scotland thus making it the first military airbase to be established in the United Kingdom . World War I . Burke ( as a brevet major ) was mentioned in Sir John French ’ s despatch on 8 October 1914 . The following month , on 29 November 1914 , Burke was appointed the first commanding officer of No . 2 Wing of the Royal Flying Corps and he set up his headquarters at Saint - Omer . His wing comprised Nos 5 and 6 Squadrons . In 1915 Burke was involved in recruiting for the Royal Flying Corps in Canada . As well as directly recruiting personnel , Burke suggested that training aerodromes might be established in Canada under British control . For some months during 1916 , Burke served as the Commandant of the Central Flying School . In the summer of 1916 Burke rejoined his old regiment , the Royal Irish Regiment , which was suffering a severe shortage of officers . He was killed in action on 9 April 1917 , the first day of the Battle of Arras . He had been commanding a battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment . External links .