Reginald Alexander John Warneford Reginald Alexander John Warneford , VC ( 15 October 1891 – 17 June 1915 ) was a Royal Naval Air Service ( RNAS ) officer who received 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 . Early life . Warneford was born in Darjeeling , India , the son of an engineer on the Indian Railways . He was brought to England as a small boy and educated at King Edward VI School , Stratford - upon - Avon but when his family returned to India he continued his education at the English College , Simla . Following apprenticeship in the Merchant Marine , Warneford joined the British - India Steam Navigation Company . At the time of the outbreak of World War I , he was in Canada awaiting return to India . Instead , he sailed then to Great Britain , joining the Army but almost straightaway transferred to the Royal Navy Air Service for pilot training . Service . Warneford ' s initial training took place at Hendon , passing then to Upavon where he completed his pilot training on 25 February 1915 . During the course of training , the Commander of Naval Air Station s , R M Groves was quoted as saying : " This youngster will either do big things or kill himself . " Warneford ' s flying instructor at the time , Warren Merriam , noted his skills as a pilot but had to make special arrangements to ensure that Warneford ' s perceived over - confidence did not bar him from attaining a commission . Merriam took an opportunity whilst Commander Groves was visiting Hendon to ask Warneford to demonstrate his flying skills . Groves ' favourable impression overcame the views of the Squadron Commander at the time who believed that Warneford would never make an officer because of his lack of discipline . Warneford was initially posted to 2 Wing on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent but was quickly ( 7 May 1915 ) posted to an operational unit with 1 Wing at Veurne on the Belgian coast . Over the next few weeks , Warneford was involved in attacks on German troops and guns , as well as actions against enemy aircraft . His aggressiveness and effectiveness led to his being given his own aircraft and a roving commission . On 17 May 1915 , Warneford encountered Zeppelin airship LZ 39 setting out on a raid over the UK . He attacked LZ39 with machine gun fire but the airship was able to ascend out of range by jettisoning ballast . On 7 June 1915 at Ghent , Belgium , Warneford , flying a Morane - Saulnier Type L , attacked the German airship LZ 37 . He chased the airship from the coast near Ostend and , despite its defensive machine - gun fire , succeeded in dropping his bombs on it , the last of which set the airship on fire . LZ37 subsequently crashed in Sint - Amandsberg ( ) . The explosion overturned Warneford ' s aircraft and stopped its engine . Having no alternative , Warneford had to land behind enemy lines , but after 35 minutes spent on repairs , he managed to restart the engine and returned to base . On 17 June 1915 , Warneford received the award of Légion d ' honneur from the French Army Commander in Chief , General Joffre . Following a celebratory lunch , Warneford travelled to the aerodrome at Buc in order to ferry an aircraft for delivery to the RNAS at Veurne . Having made one short test flight , he then flew a second flight , carrying an American journalist , Henry Beach Newman , as passenger . During a climb to 200 feet , the righthand wings collapsed leading to a catastrophic failure of the airframe . Accounts suggest that neither occupant was harnessed and were both thrown out of the aircraft , suffering fatal injuries . In the case of Newman , death was instantaneous . Warneford died of his injuries on the way to hospital . He was buried at Brompton Cemetery , London on 21 June 1915 in a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners . His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil , Somerset , England .