Bruce Digby - Worsley Second Lieutenant Bruce Digby - Worsley was a World War I British flying ace credited with 16 aerial victories between June and September 1918 . Background . Ernest Bruce Digby - Worsley was born on 6 February 1899 in Gloucester , England and died in 1980 in Hastings , England . At the time of his enlistment in 1914 , he was a 15 - year - old schoolboy living in the parental home at 25 Arthur Street in Gloucester . He falsified his age ( and place of birth ) in order to enlist in the local Territorial Force battalion , claiming that he was 19 years of age . In 1916 , Digby - Worsley was evacuated from France to the Red Cross Hospital in Gloucester with a severe case of trench foot , after serving in Flanders for only two months . Digby - Worsley ' s mother then attempted to have him excused from further duty at the front on grounds of age . By this time , however , Digby - Worsley had already been appointed as a drill instructor , and the Middlesex Regiment clearly felt that his services were needed to train recruits at home , which he did until his transfer to the King ' s Own Scottish Borderers . After the war , Digby - Worsley lived at Hargate Forest on Broadwater Down in Tunbridge Wells , Kent . He pursued a successful career in theatrical management , becoming manager of the Sadler ' s Wells Theatre and the D ' Oyly Carte Opera Company . Military career . Bruce Digby - Worsley enlisted in the territorials on 21 September 1914 and served with the 2 / 5th Gloucestershire Regiment ( TF ) until July 1915 . He was then transferred to the Regular Army and served with the 16th and 24th Middlesex Regiment until March 1917 , and the 2 / 5th King ' s Own Scottish Borderers ( TF ) until August 1917 , receiving a promotion to lance - corporal in June 1917 . Digby - Worsley then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an officer cadet ( 29 August 1917 ) and received his commission on 3 January 1918 , with the rank of probationary second lieutenant . Digby - Worsley returned to France in April 1918 , assigned to No . 88 Squadron of the Royal Air Force . The " London Gazette " announced that probationary Second Lieutenant Digby - Worsley ( late General List , Royal Flying Corps ) was confirmed in his rank as second lieutenant ( observer officer ) , as of 24 July 1918 . Digby - Worsley is credited with 16 aerial victories , all of them as an observer in a Bristol F . 2b , and all within a mere four months of operations . The observer ' s first four victories were from Bristol F . 2b ( C787 ) piloted by Lieutenant Kenneth Conn . On 5 June 1918 , he scored a double victory , destroying two Albatros D . V aircraft over Messines , West Flanders , Belgium . The following month , on 1 July 1918 , Digby - Worsley racked up another double , taking out two Fokker D . VII planes west of Westrozebeke , West Flanders , destroying one in flames and sending the other out of control . His next seven victories , numbers 5 through 11 , were all from Bristol F . 2b ( C4061 ) , piloted by Findlay , a Scottish flying ace credited with 14 aerial victories . He was credited with his fifth on 30 July 1918 when he sent a Pfalz D . III out of control over Richebourg , France . His sixth kill took place on 6 Aug 1918 , when a Fokker D . VII was destroyed in flames over Ploegsteert , Hainaut , Belgium . The next four victories , numbers 7 through 10 , all took place on 11 August 1918 . In the morning , two Fokker D . VII planes were sent out of control over Clery , France . In the afternoon , two more D . VII planes were taken out over Méricourt , Pas - de - Calais , France , one destroyed in flames , and the other sent out of control . His eleventh kill took place the following day , on 12 August 1918 . A Fokker D . VII was destroyed east of Biaches , Somme , France . Digby - Worsley ' s remaining victories , numbers 12 through 16 , were all from Bristol F . 2b ( E2216 ) , piloted by Conn , a Canadian who was the leading ace of No . 88 Squadron with 20 victories . His twelfth took place on 5 September 1918 , when a Fokker D . VII was sent out of control northeast of Armentières , Nord , France . On 16 September 1918 , he scored a double victory , destroying two Fokker D . VII aircraft northeast of Harbourdin Airfield , near Lille , Nord , France . Four days later , on 20 September 1918 , Digby - Worsley racked up another double , sending one Fokker D . VII out of control over Quesnoy , France and destroying another southeast of Quesnoy . The latter was his sixteenth and final victory . That sixteenth victory for Digby - Worsley was the only one in which the identity of his victim is known . Leutnant Helmut Gantz of Jasta 56 died of his wounds the following day . That last victory was also the only one shared with other crews . It was shared with four other aviators : Captain Edgar Johnston , Lieutenant Walter Grant , Lieutenant George Poole , and Sergeant Charles Hill . Pilot Edgar Johnston was an Australian flying ace who was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and was credited with twenty aerial victories . His observer Walter Grant was also an Australian flying ace , and was credited with seven aerial victories . Pilot George Poole was a British flying ace credited with five aerial victories . His observer Charles Hill was a British flying ace credited with seven victories . The " London Gazette " reported that Digby - Worsley relinquished his commission due to illness that had been contracted while he had been on active service . Further , it was noted that he was permitted to retain his rank . This was to be effective the following day , on 26 April 1919 .