Charles Dawson Booker Major Charles Dawson Booker DSC ( sometimes hyphenated into Dawson - Booker ) ( 21 April 1897 – 13 August 1918 ) was a World War I fighter ace credited with 29 victories . He was promoted to high rank while relatively young as a result of his gallantry and unswerving dedication to his country . Early life . Charles Dawson Booker was born to Joseph Dawson and Rachel C . Booker at Burnt House Cottage , Speldhurst , Royal Tunbridge Wells , Kent , England . He spent part of his youth in Australia , attending the Grammar School in Melbourne from February 1908 through December 1911 . He then returned to England and went to Bedford Grammar School in Bedfordshire until May 1915 . On 8 September 1915 , he was accepted into the Royal Naval Air Service as a Flight Sub - Lieutenant . First Tour of Service . He served on the Belgian Coast , first with 5 Naval Wing , then with 8 Naval Squadron from May through October 1916 , and further inland for another year , through November 1917 . He did not open his victory roll until 23 January 1917 , after his transfer to 8 Naval , when he drove an Albatros D . III down out of control while piloting a Sopwith Pup . After a lapse of some months , he used a Sopwith Triplane to score four times in April , becoming an ace on the 30th . Even at this early stage , he was flight commander of C Flight despite his youth . He was described by one of his wingmen as " . . . a little fellow , usually very silent , who fears nothing , but he would run a mile from any girl . . . he hopes the war will go on forever because he loves air fighting , and if the war were to end he is afraid he might not be able to find a suitable job . " May was an especially notable month for Booker , with nine victories , including a triple on the 24th . On 22 June , after his 17th win , he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross ; the citation noted his three wins tallied on 24 May . After three victories in July , he shot down and badly wounded German ace Hauptmann Adolf Ritter von Tutschek , commander of Jasta 12 , on 11 August 1917 ; Tutschek would take half a year to recover . In this same fight , Booker was so badly shot about that German ace Viktor Schobinger claimed Booker as a victory . Booker actually managed to coax his destroyed ' Tripehound ' to a forced landing in friendly territory . He had used Sopwith Triplanes ( his usual aircraft being serial number N5482 , which he whimsically dubbed ' Maude ' ) to run his string of triumphs to 23 by this time . The crash landing on the 11th was the end of ' Maude ' . It had been his mount for at least 14 triumphs . On 27 September , he scored his first victory while flying a Sopwith Camel ; he shot down German ace Oberleutnant Hans Waldhausen of Jasta 37 , who became a prisoner . However , Naval 8 , and Booker , were withdrawn from action in November and returned to England . Booker was the fourth ranked of the 25 aces in this prestigious squadron . Second Tour of Service . After some months back in England , he returned to France as a Major commanding 201 Squadron of the newly formed Royal Air Force . He had been given the command in March , just shy of his 21st birthday . Once again , he would be flying a Camel . He led 201 by example , scoring two May victories and one in July . In May , on the 24th , he identified the body of his friend , Australian ace Robert Little , who had been shot down nearby . On 13 August 1918 , he was leading a rookie pilot on an orientation tour of their aerial battlefield . The two Camel pilots ran into a formation of at least six expert pilots from Jagdgeschwader II . Booker tackled them single - handedly to cover the green pilot ' s retreat . It was the greenhorn who verified Booker ' s final three wins . However , Jasta 12 ' s ace Leutnant Ulrich Neckel finally shot Booker down . Booker was buried in Vignacourt British Cemetery , Somme , France . He had claimed 29 victories ; he shared in the capture of two enemy airplanes ; destroyed ten , including six victories shared with other pilots ; and drove down 17 ' out of control ' , including five shared wins . Citation . Distinguished Service Cross Charles Dawson Booker was also awarded the " Croix de guerre " on 14 July 1917 .