MAJOR JAMES THOMAS BYFORD MCCUDDEN, VC, DSO AND BAR, MC AND BAR, MM
ROYAL AIR FORCE
9TH JULY 1918 AGE 23
BURIED: WAVANS BRITISH CEMETERY, FRANCE
This is the epitaph of an amazing man - just looks at his awards: VC, DSO and Bar, MC and Bar and MM, the latter, the Military Medal, revealing that Major McCudden began his service career in the ranks. In fact, James McCudden joined up well before the outbreak of war as a Boy Bugler in the Royal Engineers. It was 1910 and he was only 14. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1913 as an Air Mechanic. Much as he wanted to, he wasn't accepted for flying training until December 1915. He was too good a mechanic for the RFC to want to lose him. However, it was these mechanical skills that made him into one of the RFC's most successful pilots. He understood his aeroplane, knew how it worked and was able to tweak the engine to get the very best out of it. By the time he died, in July 1918, he had accounted for 57 German aeroplanes and was ranked seventh in the list of the war's most successful aces: two of the six above him were German, two Canadian and one French. The only UK airman with more victories was Edward Mannock with 61.
McCudden made his first flight as an operational fighter pilot in June 1916, achieved his first 'kill' on 4 September and received his commission on 21 January 1917. Much of the early part of 1917 was spent in the UK as a flying instructor. Following what the RFC called 'Bloody April', when their losses were three times those of the German air force, McCudden's skills and advice were in much demand. He returned to France in August and on 2 April 1918 was awarded a Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance, keeness and very high devotion to duty". At this time he had shot down 54 enemy planes, twice shooting down four in one day, once in only one and a half hours. McCudden achieved three more victories before he was killed on take off returning from a trip to England.
He had just delivered the manuscript of his memoir, 'Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps', to the publishers. Much better known by the title it was given when republished in 1930, 'Flying Fury - Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps', the original title speaks volumes about McCudden's modesty and dislike of heroising. If you are looking for an account of daring deeds you are not going to find it here, but if you want to know exactly what it was like to be a member of the Royal Flying Corps from virtually the second year of its existence then this is the book for you.
Much has been written about James McCudden, and much of it is available on the internet. However, the research done by Jonathan Saunders on the Great War Forum is particularly interesting about his family. He had three brothers: the eldest, William, died in a flying training accident on 1 May 1915; his younger brother, John, was killed in action on 18 March 1918 and youngest brother, Maurice, died following an operation in December 1934. All three brothers are commemorated on William's grave in Maidstone Road Cemetery, Chatham, Kent. Their sister's husband is also commemorated here: Arthur Scott Spears was killed on 27 May 1915 when HMS Princess Irene exploded off Sheerness whilst being loaded with mines. Three hundred and fifty-two lives were lost and wreckage from the explosion was found over 20 miles away. William's grave is also his father's. On 3 July 1920, William McCudden Senior accidentally fell out of a moving train and died two days later.
The inscription on this memorial reads:
Fly on dear boys from this dark world of strife
On to the land of promise, to eternal life.
They are not dead, such spirits never die,
They are unquenchable, they only sleep.
The last two lines are the inscription on John McCudden's headstone in St Souplet Military Cemetery, France, and the first two are close to the words on James'. Neither appear to be quotations. The only other incidence of James' inscription to be found on the Internet is on the grave of Second Lieutenant William Palmer RFC. Palmer was killed during flying training in Lincolnshire on 15 September 1917 when his plane crashed on his first solo flight. He is buried in a private grave in St Andrew's churchyard, Ham. The Palmers lived two streets away from the McCuddens in Kingston-upon-Thames. Did they confer?