Harold A . Hamersley Harold Alan Hamersley MC ( 6 February 1896 – December 1967 ) was an Australian World War I flying ace credited with 13 confirmed aerial victories . He later went on to serve in the Royal Air Force following the war , serving in India and reaching the rank of group captain before retiring . World War I service . Hamersely was born on 6 February 1896 in Guildford , Western Australia . His father was Hugh Hamersley . Following the outbreak of World War I , Hamersley volunteered for overseas service , joining the Australian Imperial Force on 18 February 1915 . Listing his occupation as a farmer , upon enlistment he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the 16th Battalion , with whom he embarked as part of the 5th Reinforcements to leave Fremantle on board HMAT " Hororata " on 26 April 1915 . He fought with the battalion in the Gallipoli Campaign and suffered a bullet wound to his right thigh in August and was evacuated to Cairo . He returned to his unit in October and remained at the front until November when he contracted influenza and was evacuated to Mudros . He returned to Gallipoli just in time to participate in the evacuation and disembarked in Alexandria in January 1916 . In March 1916 he was transferred to the 48th Battalion as part of the expansion of the AIF that occurred at that time . Later that month he was promoted to lieutenant and in June 1916 was transferred to France along with the rest of his battalion , to take part in the fighting in the trenches of the Western Front . In August he was temporarily seconded to the headquarters staff of the 4th Division , with the acting rank of captain . In November 1916 he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and struck off the AIF ' s strength . After attending the 2nd Royal Flying Corps School of Instruction , he was subsequently posted to No . 60 Squadron on the Western Front to pilot a Royal Aircraft Factory SE . 5 a in September 1917 . On the 16th , he promptly scored his first victory , destroying an Albatros D . III . On the 22nd , he shared a victory as he helped Captain Robert L . Chidlaw - Roberts become an ace by driving down an Albatros D . III out of control . The following day , Hamersley almost became Werner Voss ' s 49th victim ; Voss shot up his SE . 5a before being shot down and killed by a patrol from 56 Squadron . Hamersley survived unhurt . He continued to score ; on 18 November , he scored his sixth and last win for 1917 , again teaming with Chidlaw - Roberts as they destroyed a DFW reconnaissance plane . Hamersley started again on 25 January 1918 , destroying an Albatros D . V . After a couple more wins , on 30 March he destroyed an LVG recce craft and an Albatros D . V and drove down another D . V for a triple win . This rounded off his record at 10 German planes destroyed and three driven down out of control . He returned to England in May 1918 as a captain awarded a Military Cross . Post World War I . In 1920 – 1922 , Hamersley was once again assigned to 60 Squadron , although by then it was stationed in India . He then became the Avro test pilot for a while ; it was during this time that he set an altitude record in an airplane powered by an Austin 7 motor . On 1 January 1926 , he was granted a permanent commission as a Flight Lieutenant . He was promoted to Squadron Leader on 1 April 1935 ; four months later , he was selected for an engineering assignment at Worthy Down . On 1 July 1938 , he was promoted to Wing Commander . That same year , he was named Officer Commanding of the University of London Air Squadron . He moved on to command RAF Hullavington in 1940 . On 1 December 1940 , Hamersley was promoted to Group Captain . Later , he became President of the Air Crew Selection Board in Scotland before his retirement . Honours and awards . Military Cross ( MC )