Clive Franklyn Collett Captain Clive Franklyn Collett was a World War I flying ace from New Zealand credited with 11 aerial victories . He was the first British or Commonwealth military pilot to use a parachute , in a test . Early life . Collett was born in Blenheim , New Zealand on 28 August 1886 . His father , Horace Edwin Collett , lived at Lambeth , London , England . His mother , Alice Marguerite Radford , the senior Collett ' s wife , resided in Tauranga . < ref name = http : / / www . collettfamilyhistory . net / Clive % 20Franklyn % 20Collett % 20Rev . 1 . htm > http : / / www . collettfamilyhistory . net / Clive % 20Franklyn % 20Collett % 20Rev . 1 . htm Retrieved 12 January 2011 . < / ref > After completing his education at Queen ' s College in Tauranga , Clive Franklyn Collett chose a career in engineering . < ref name = http : / / www . nzfpm . co . nz / article . asp ? id = collett > http : / / www . nzfpm . co . nz / article . asp ? id = collett Retrieved 12 January 2011 . < / ref > World War I . Collett was in Britain when World War I broke out . He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1914 . He earned his Royal Aero Club Pilot ' s Certificate number 1057 at a private flying school on 29 January 1915 . He was transferred to Brooklands on 17 February . Two months later , he was commissioned . On 25 May , he joined 11 Squadron . On 6 July , he was hospitalized for an injury suffered in an aircraft mishap at Hendon . On 30 July , he was posted to 8 Squadron at Netheravon , Wiltshire . Collett pulled an on - base transfer to join 32 Squadron on 1 March 1916 ; however , he was then posted to 18 Squadron on 9 March 1916 as a Vickers FB . 5 pilot . After a month ' s service , he was admitted to hospital on 18 April with a broken nose , and returned to Home Establishment in England via the merchant ship M . S . Delta . On 13 June 1916 , he was posted to the Experimental Station at Orfordness , Suffolk as a test pilot . His duties there included undertaking the British military ' s first parachute jump from an airplane , from a Royal Aircraft Factory BE . 2 c during January 1917 . < ref name = http : / / www . theaerodrome . com / aces / nzealand / collett . php > http : / / www . theaerodrome . com / aces / nzealand / collett . php Retrieved 12 January 2011 . < / ref > On 24 July 1917 , he joined 70 Squadron , which had just upgraded to Sopwith Camel s . As a Captain , he was a Flight Commander . Three days later , he destroyed a German Albatros D . V over Ypres for his first victory . He would win six more victories in August . Collett was accounted an aggressive pilot by no less fellow ace than James McCudden , who noted that Collett " . . . used to come back shot to ribbons nearly every time he went out . " Collett himself noted in his combat reports an incident when he continued to fire on a crashed German plane . On 5 September 1917 , Collett destroyed another Albatros D . V over Roulers . Four days later , he scored a victory in each of three separate dogfights spread over three - quarters of an hour . He was also wounded in the hand , most probably by Ludwig Hanstein of Jasta 35 . Collett was removed from combat . While recuperating , he was awarded the Military Cross on 26 September 1917 . A Bar in lieu of a second award followed shortly thereafter , on 18 October 1917 . When recovered , Collett was assigned to 73 Squadron as they prepared their Sopwith Camels for combat . On 23 December 1917 , Collett was test - flying a captured German Albatros over the Firth of Forth . He inexplicably dove into the ocean . He was buried in Grave No . K903 in Comely Bank Cemetery in Edinburgh . Honors and awards . Text of citation for the Military Cross : Text of citation for Bar to the Military Cross :