Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson Captain Samuel Frederick Henry " Siffy " Thompson MC DFC was a World War I two - seater fighter ace who , in conjunction with his observer - gunners , was credited with 30 victories ( 18 destroyed , 12 ' out of control ' ) . He was shot down and killed in action on 27 September 1918 . Despite having an active fighter career of only five months , he reached the rank of Captain and won two British military decoration s . Early life . Thompson was born to Samuel W . Thompson , a medical practitioner , and his wife Florence in Bow , London in 1890 . Already a temporary second lieutenant in the Army Service Corps , he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 7 June 1917 at the age of 27 , and was appointed a flying officer . Service . After joining No . 20 Squadron in late 1917 , Thompson ' s career started somewhat awkwardly , as he crashed his aircraft on 27 October , after which he was transferred to No . 22 Squadron . His aircraft of choice was the Bristol F . 2b , with which he scored his first victory , an Albatros D . V , east of Merville , France on 22 April 1918 , as a member of No . 22 Squadron . An extremely aggressive pilot , in May 1918 he scored 9 victories , including three Pfalz D . III aircraft around 10am on 16 May , near Douai . Also notable was his downing of two more D . IIIs on 21 May , south - west of Vitry - en - Artois . June 1918 was also fruitful for Thompson , as he scored 8 victories mostly in the aircraft C929 ( a Bristol F . 2b ) . At Erquinghem - le - Sec on 1 June , he downed an Albatros C . III in addition to an Albatros D . V , and the next day ( 2 June ) he got another two victories near Lens , Pas - de - Calais , this time two Pfalz D . III s . He only scored one victory in July , a Fokker Dr . I near Laventie on 26 July . In August he scored a further six victories at Dechy , the road connecting Arras and Cambrai , Douai and Senlemont . He shot down , amongst others , three Fokker D . VII aircraft . He was promoted to temporary captain on 24 August . September started off well for Thompson , with four victories against Fokker D . VII s up until 24 September . He received the Military Cross on 16 September . On 27 September 1918 , in aircraft E2243 , he downed a Halberstadt C north of Noyelles before being shot down east of Cambrai by Oberleutnant Otto Schmidt of Jasta 5 . Thompson was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 2 November . He is commemorated in Arras at the Arras Flying Services Memorial . Observers . Thompson claimed at least 18 of his victories with the front gun , the rest being claimed by his gunners . He flew with Lieutenant Charles George Gass , the highest - scoring observer ace during the war , for two of his victories , on 22 April and 26 July 1918 , as well as with Sergeant L Kendrick for two victories in May 1918 . The observer on his final flight was Second Lieutenant Clifford Tolman , an ' ace ' with 8 victories , who was also killed in the crash . However , for most of his time of service he flew with Observer Sergeant Ronald Malcolm Fletcher DFM , who recorded 26 victories during the war , and was crewed with Thompson on no fewer than 25 of the pilot ' s 30 victories , claiming at least six victories in his own right .