William Barnard Rhodes - Moorhouse William Barnard Rhodes - Moorhouse VC , born William Barnard Moorhouse , ( 26 September 1887 – 27 April 1915 ) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . Rhodes - Moorhouse was the first airman to be awarded the VC . Early life . Rhodes - Moorhouse was born at Rokeby , North Yorkshire . His mother Mary Ann Rhodes ( born c 1850 ) was the daughter of William Barnard Rhodes and Otahi , a member of the Taranaki ( Tuturu ) , Ngati Tama , Ngati Ruanui and Te Āti Awa Māori iwi in the Wellington area of New Zealand . When Rhodes married Sarah King , the very young child Mary Anne was " gifted " ( Whaangai ) to the newlyweds . After his first wife died , Rhodes married Sarah Ann Moorhouse , the sister of William Sefton Moorhouse , a prominent Canterbury politician and settler . She adopted Mary Ann Rhodes . Mary Anne ' s father had been a whaling captain who became a prominent Wellington settler , businessman and politician . On his death , Mary Anne Rhodes received a legacy which made her the richest woman in New Zealand . She married her second stepmother ’ s younger brother , Edward Moorhouse , in Wellington in 1883 . They moved to England and raised four children , including Rhodes - Moorhouse who went to Harrow School and ( briefly ) Trinity Hall , Cambridge . Leaving university in 1909 Rhodes - Moorhouse took private flying lessons and gained his pilot ' s certificate in that year . Besides designing aircraft he competed in aviation races and was the first to cross the English Channel , from Douai to Ashford , Kent , with two passengers , his wife and a London " Evening News " journalist , in a biplane . He changed his surname to Rhodes - Moorhouse in 1912 , shortly before he married , as required by the will of his grandfather . His wife , Linda Beatrice Morrit , was also a flying enthusiast . She died in 1973 aged 86 . World War I service . At the outbreak of war Rhodes - Moorhouse enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps and as a second lieutenant was posted to Farnborough . Seeking to serve on an operational basis , he obtained a posting to No . 2 Squadron on 20 March 1915 at Merville , flying the B . E . 2 . On 26 April 1915 at Kortrijk , Belgium , Rhodes - Moorhouse swept low over the railway junction that he had been ordered to attack . He released his 100 lb ( 45 kg ) bomb and was immediately plunged into a heavy barrage of small arms fire from rifles and a machine - gun in the belfry of Kortrijk Church ; he was severely wounded by a bullet in his thigh , and his plane was badly hit . Returning to the Allied lines , he again ran into heavy fire from the ground and was wounded twice more . He managed to get his aircraft back , and insisted on making his report before being taken to the Casualty Clearing Station . He died the next day , 27 April 1915 . For this action he was awarded the VC . His body was returned to England and buried at the family home Parnham Park , Beaminster , Dorset , and later the ashes of his son were placed alongside him . William Henry Rhodes - Moorhouse . His son , also called William ( Willie ) was less than a year old when his father died . He went on to join No . 601 Squadron RAF . He was shot down and killed over Kent during the Battle of Britain in 1940 , shortly after being awarded the DFC .