William Bond (RFC officer)

William Arthur Bond
Born	27 June 1889(1889-06-27) Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Died	22 July 1917(1917-07-22) (aged 28) Sallaumines, France
Memorial	Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Royal Flying Corps
Rank	Captain
Unit	40 Squadron RFC
Awards	Military Cross with Bar

Captain William Arthur Bond MC* (27 June 1889-22 July 1917) was a First World War flying ace credited with five aerial victories.^[1]

Bond was wounded^[1] while serving in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry^[2] in the Dardanelles in 1916.^[1] After transferring to the Royal Flying Corps, Bond was posted to fly Nieuport fighters in No. 40 Squadron in early 1917. He flew Nieuport No. B1545 to five victories in a month, beginning on 10 May and ending on 9 June 1917.^[1]^[2]

He was appointed flight commander in July. On the 22nd, he was killed in action over Sallaumines while flying Nieuport No. B1688. Cause of his death is disputed; he is said to have either fallen to the guns of a two-seater observation plane from FA 235, or to anti-aircraft fire.^[2]

After his death, his wife Aimee (later Aimée Stuart) wrote An Airman's Wife about him.^[3]

1 Honours and awards
2 References
3 Further reading
4 Source of information

Honours and awards

24 June 1916 - Temp. 2nd Lt. William Arthur Bond, 1st Bn (attd 7th Bn.) Yorks. L.I. is awarded the Military Cross For conspicuous gallantry when on patrol. An enemy patrol was met and bombs were exchanged, one of which wounded both 2nd Lt. Bond and another officer, The enemy retired and opened machine-gun fire, which again wounded the other officer. 2nd Lt. Bond and Private Garnett at great risk brought him in over 200 yards under heavy machine-gun fire.^[4]

16 August 1917 - T./Lt. William Arthur Bond, MC, Yorks LI and RFC is awarded a bar to the Military Cross For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. While on patrol he attacked at close range a hostile machine, which was sent down out of control. Shortly afterwards he attacked another, which stalled and fell sideways. On another date he flew over the lines at about 50 feet and attacked a hostile balloon, bringing it down in flames.^[5]

References

Nieuport Aces of World War 1. Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1855329611, 9781855329614.

Source of information

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d William Bond, The Aerodrome website, n.d. Retrieved 12 September 2009; 3 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. p. 80.
^ Nieuport Aces of World War 1.. p. 25.
^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29637. p. 6298. 24 June 1916. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30234. p. 8354. 16 August 1917. Retrieved 2009-09-13.

Aviation in World War I

People and aircraft	Commanders · Aces · Aircraft of the Entente Powers · Aircraft of the Central Powers · Zeppelins

Campaigns and battles	Strategic bombing (German, Cuxhaven) · Bombing of cities · Fokker Scourge · Flight over Vienna · Bloody April · Battles

Entente Powers air services	Australian Flying Corps · British air services (Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force) · French Air Service · Imperial Russian Air Force · Italian Military Air Corps · United States Army Air Service · Greek air services (Army Air Service, Naval Air Service)

Central Powers air services	German air services (Army Air Service, Navy Air Service) · Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops · Ottoman Air Force · Bulgarian Army Aeroplane Section

Royal Flying Corps

Command Structure	No. 1 Wing • No. 5 Wing • London Air Defence Area • Royal Flying Corps Squadrons

Airfields	Royal Flying Corps airfields

Aircraft	List of aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps

Personnel	Royal Flying Corps officers • List of British WWI aces

World War I	World War I • Aviation in World War I • Royal Naval Air Service • Imperial German Army Air Service • Anti-aircraft Warfare in WWI

Persondata
Name	Bond, William Arthur
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 June 1889
Place of birth	Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Date of death	22 July 1917
Place of death	Sallaumines, France

William Bond (RFC officer)

Contents

Honours and awards

References

Further reading

Source of information