Mick Mannock Major Edward Corringham " Mick " Mannock ( 24 May 1887 – 26 July 1918 ) was a British First World War flying ace . Mannock was possibly born in Ireland or at Aldershot or Brighton in England ; he was of English and Scottish parentage . Mannock went into combat on the Western Front on three separate combat tours . Although initially a social misfit suspected of cowardice in his first assignment to 40 Squadron , he began to accumulate victories . He took on the highly hazardous task of balloon busting for his first aerial victory , and by dogged concentration on his gunnery skills , tallied 15 victories by the end of his first combat tour . After two months back in England , he returned to France as a Flight Commander in the fledgling 74 Squadron . He amassed 36 more victories between 12 April and 17 June 1918 . He also gained a reputation for ruthless hatred of his German adversaries , delighting in burning them to death . He became phobic about burning to death in midair . The stresses of combat began to tell on him . He also became ill with a lingering case of influenza . When ordered home on leave in June , he wept . He returned as Officer Commanding of 85 Squadron in July 1918 ; he would score nine more victories that month . By now , his phobias had spread to include excessive tidiness . He also had presentiments of his coming end . Just days after warning fellow ace George McElroy about the deadly hazards of flying low into ground fire , Mannock did just that on 26 July 1918 . His fighter plane was set on fire , and he was killed in action . He was one of the world ' s first theorists of aviation tactics , and was renowned for his prudent but aggressive leadership in the air . By the time he rose to command of 85 Squadron , his subordinates boasted that he never lost a wingman . Mannock won the Military Cross twice , was one of the rare three - time winners of the Distinguished Service Order , and would be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross . He is regarded as one of the greatest fighter pilots of the war . Youth . Edward Mannock was born on 24 May 1887 , probably in Ballincollig , County Cork , Ireland , although Aldershot and Preston Barracks in Brighton have also been claimed . His father was a Scottish corporal in the British Army and his mother was English . The family moved to India early in Mick ' s life , before postings brought the family back to England . In 1897 , Mannock developed amoebic infestation which rendered him temporarily blind . Legend has it that it left him with permanently impaired vision ; however accounts written by former comrades discount any such impairment . His father , a hard - drinking , brutal man , abandoned his family when Mick was twelve . He had to leave school for a series of jobs including , in 1911 , one with the National Telephone Company in Wellingborough , Northamptonshire , England . In 1913 he became the Secretary of the Wellingborough Independent Labour Party . The outbreak of the war found him working as a telephone engineer in Turkey . The Turks interned him and his health rapidly declined in prison . Near death , he was repatriated and , in 1915 , joined the Royal Army Medical Corps . By 1916 , he had become an officer in the Royal Engineers and in August 1916 transferred to the Royal Flying Corps . Career . Training . In February 1917 , he joined the Joyce Green Reserve Squadron for flying training . During his first solo in an Airco DH . 2 pusher biplane , he got into a spin at , and recovered , but got in trouble with his commanding officer , Major Keith Caldwell , who suspected Mick of showboating . But he soon got on well with the major , before transferring to France with the RFC ' s Nieuport - equipped 40 Squadron . The Nieuport 17 was a French - built scout that by 1917 was outclassed in most respects by the latest German fighters . Caldwell described Mick as " very reserved , inclined towards a strong temper , but very patient and somewhat difficult to arouse " . 40 Squadron . At 40 Squadron , the reserved , working class manner of Mannock did not fit in with the well - heeled upper - middle - class , ex - public schoolboys who made up the majority of his comrades . On his first night , he inadvertently sat down in an empty chair , a chair which a newly fallen flier had occupied until that day . At first , Mick held back in the air too , to the extent that some pilots thought he was cowardly . He admitted that he was very frightened . Finally , on 7 May , he shot down an observation balloon and thought this would gain him the acceptance of the squadron . By the end of July , Mannock had been awarded the Military Cross ( MC ) and was a flight commander . On 12 August 1917 , he shot down and captured " Leutnant " Joachim von Bertrab of Jasta 30 for his " sixth Credit " of 1 balloon and five enemy aircraft . By ironic coincidence Bertrab had shot down five enemy aircraft and was trying to shoot down a balloon for " his " sixth credit He kept flying and conquered his fears , working tirelessly at gunnery practice and forcing himself to get close to the German aeroplanes . After one kill , he coldly described it . " I was only ten yards away from him - on top so I couldn ' t miss . A beautifully coloured insect he was - red , blue , green and yellow . I let him have 60 rounds , so there wasn ' t much left of him . " His determination , flying skill and sense of teamwork earned him a promotion to captain and a bar to his MC in October 1917 . At the end of the year , the squadron re - equipped with the SE5a , one of the best British fighter aircraft of the war . Though not as maneuverable as the Sopwith Camel , it was faster than most of the German machines and could out - climb and out - dive them . He returned to Home Establishment , tour - expired , in January 1918 , with 23 claims to his credit . 74 Squadron . In February 1918 , Mannock was appointed flight commander of the newly formed No . 74 Squadron . The squadron was posted to France in March 1918 . He continued shooting down Germans , but never hogging credit , letting newer pilots get credit for kills . In three months , he claimed 36 more , bringing his total to 59 . He was an excellent patrol leader ; he took a very protective attitude toward his fliers and lectured them on survival and success . " Sight your own guns , " he told them , " The armourer doesn ' t have to do the fighting . " His hatred of the Germans grew ; " I sent one of them to Hell in flames today . . . I wish Kaiser Bill could have seen him sizzle . " Once , he forced a German two - seater to crash . Most pilots would have been satisfied with that , but not Mick . He repeatedly machine - gunned the helpless crew . When his squadron mate questioned this behaviour , Mannock explained " The swines are better dead - no prisoners . " . Another time , he pursued a silver Pfalz scout ; the two planes rolled , dived , looped and fired their guns . Eventually Mick got the better of his opponent and the German started twisting and turning as it fell toward a certain crash . Mick stayed on it , firing away , " a really remarkable exhibition of cruel , calculated Hun - strafing " another pilot called it . On this day , Mannock shot down four planes . He delightedly announced to the mess hall , " Flamerinoes - four ! Sizzle sizzle wonk ! " Van Ira , a South African flier in 74 commented on Mannock ' s success : Mannock was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in May 1918 , not long after his four - in - a - day feat , and the award of a bar just two weeks later . Dealing with war . Mannock was deeply affected by the number of men he was killing . In his diary , he recorded visiting the site where one of his victims had crashed near the front - line : Mannock became especially upset when he saw one of his victims catch fire on its way to the ground . His fear of " flamerinoes " meant that from that date on , he always carried a revolver with him in his cockpit . As he told his friend Lieutenant MacLanachan , Mid 1918 . By this time , the strain of combat flying and the fear of his own fiery death got to Mannock . But he kept flying , repeatedly scoring multiple kills . He fell sick with influenza , aggravated by tension . By June 1918 , he had made 59 kills , and had also earned a home leave . When he left 74 Squadron , he wept publicly . On starting his third tour of duty in July , as CO of 85 Squadron , he confided his mortal fears to a friend , worried that three was an unlucky number . He became obsessed with neatness and order ; his hair , his medals , his boots , everything had to be ' just so . ' On 20 July , at a farewell luncheon for his friend " Noisy " Lewis , Mannock took their mutual friend George McElroy aside to counsel him on the hazards of following a German victim down within range of ground fire . When he shot down an aircraft on 22 July , a friend congratulated Mannock . " They ' ll have the red carpet out for you after the war , Mick . " But Mannock glumly replied , " There won ' t be any ' after the war ' for me . " Final Sortie . On 26 July , Major Mannock offered to help a new arrival , Lt . D . C . Inglis , obtain his first victory . After shooting down an enemy LVG two - seater behind the German front - line , Mannock is believed to have dived to the crash site to view the wreckage , seemingly breaking one of the unwritten rules of fellow pilots . However , while crossing the trenches , the fighters were met with a massive volley of ground - fire . The engine of Mannock ' s aircraft was hit and immediately caught fire and crashed behind German lines . Mannock ' s body is believed to have been found , though this is unproven , about 250 yards from the wreck of his machine , perhaps thrown , perhaps jumped . The body showed no gunshots ; Mannock always promised to shoot himself if he was ever going down . The BBC Timewatch programme ' WW1 aces falling ' details the search to prove whether or not that this body was that of Mannock . Inglis described what happened : Memorials and tributes . The exact cause of Mannock ' s death remains uncertain . A year later , after intensive lobbying by Ira Jones and many of Mannock ' s former comrades , he was awarded the Victoria Cross . Mannock ' s body was not subsequently recovered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ( CWGC ) so officially he has no known grave . His name is commemorated on the Royal Flying Corps Memorial to the Missing at the Faubourg d ' Amiens CWGC Cemetery in Arras . There is also a memorial plaque in honour of Mannock in Canterbury Cathedral . Mick Mannock ' s name is listed on the Wellingborough War Memorial with the other fallen men from the town and the local Air Training Corps unit bears his name - 378 ( Mannock ) Squadron . Ed Mannock has his name on a Vickers VC - 10 . The plane is based at 101 Squadron RAF Brize Norton . The VC - 10 was once an East African Airways Civil airliner but was bought by the RAF then repainted and then put into service . On 26 July 2008 , a wreath was laid in Wellingborough to mark the 90th anniversary of his death . In addition , officers and cadets of 378 ( Mannock ) Squadron laid a wreath at the Arras War Memorial . In 2009 , one of the last photographs ever taken of Mannock was discovered in Northern France . The photograph was found in an old album belonging to a French farmer whose land had been used by the Royal Air Force during the summer of 1918 . The photograph shows Mannock in RAF uniform . He is standing on a farm track holding a walking stick and gloves with his right hand . His left hand rests on the shoulder of a dark - haired young girl . In a BBC Timewatch Programme entitled " WWI Aces Falling " , broadcast on 21 March 2009 , researchers suggested that the unidentified remains of a British airman ( recovered soon after the war from a temporary grave near Mannock ' s crash site and reburied in Plot III , Row F , Grave 12 of Laventie CWGC war cemetery as " An Unknown British Airman Of The Great War " ) could be those of Mannock . Mannock is officially credited with 61 victories : 1 balloon destroyed , 3 ( and 2 shared ) captured , 30 ( and 5 shared ) destroyed , 17 ( and 3 shared ) " out of control " in an itemised list of his approved claims ( as seen below ) . He frequently did not claim a share in kills to which he had contributed — official policy treated a shared victory as a kill for each pilot involved . Mannock himself did not appear particularly motivated to accumulate a score , though he is known to have said , " If I have any luck , I think I may beat old Mac ' s ( James McCudden ) 57 victories . Then I shall try and oust old Richthofen . . . " Mannock ' s score . There was a posthumous attempt by former 74 Squadron comrade and fellow ace Ira Jones to credit his old friend with 73 victories and therefore the top scoring British / Commonwealth ace . However research suggests that assertion was unbacked by fact . Some of the 73 accredited by Jones to Mannock and published in full in " " Mick " " , by James Dudgeon in 1981 , appear duplicated in error , misdated , shared claims , or unconfirmed claims . List of aerial victories . Confirmed victories are numbered ; unconfirmed victories are denoted by " u / c " . Official citations . Victoria Cross citation . Mannock ' s Victoria Cross was presented to his father at Buckingham Palace in July 1919 . Edward Mannock was also given his son ' s other medals , even though Mick had stipulated in his will that his father should receive nothing from his estate . Soon afterwards , Mannock ' s medals were sold for £5 . They have since been recovered and can be seen at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon . Mannock ' s rules . Mannock was highly regarded as a tactician , patrol leader and combat pilot and his oft - quoted cardinal rule was " Always above , seldom on the same level , never underneath , " by which he meant never engage the enemy without holding the advantage , and the greatest advantage in air fighting was height . According to Mannock , tactics should be adjusted according to the situation . However the main principle remained : Mannock formulated a set of practical rules for air fighting on the Western Front that , like Oswald Boelcke ' s " Dicta " , were passed on to new pilots . Second World War aces , such as Bader and Johnson , acknowledge that Mannock ' s tactics served as inspiration to them . Quotes about Mannock . ( 1 ) Jim Eyles first met Mick Mannock when he was 24 . ( 2 ) Captain Chapman was one of Mick Mannock ' s teachers at the School of Military Aeronautics . He later described Mick Mannock ' s early training . ( 3 ) Keith Caldwell was Major Mick Mannock ' s commander in 74 Squadron during the First World War . In an interview he gave in 1981 , Caldwell explained why Mannock was such a successful pilot . ( 4 ) H . G . Clements of 74 Squadron wrote an account of Major Mick Mannock in 1981 . ( 5 ) Lieutenant MacLanachan met Mick Mannock in May 1917 . After the war MacLanachan wrote about his experiences in his book " Fighter Pilot " . ( 6 ) Jim Eyles later recalled Mick Mannock ' s last leave before his death . ( 7 ) An extract from Mick Mannock ' s last letter to Jim Eyles . ( 8 ) Private Naulls was in the front trenches when he saw Mannock ' s aircraft brought down .