AIRCRAFT GROUND CREW: Photograph of Flight Sergeant Gabriel Evans with a De Havilland DH4
Flight Sergeant Gabriel Evans left several fascinating photograph albums from his military career, which are cherished by his son Jim. Lacking captions, some locations are difficult to confirm, but it’s believed they include photos from Lympne Airfield during World War One.
Born in Liverpool, records show that Gabriel enlisted in February 1915. Following a period based in Marden, near Maidstone, he was an airframe rigger at Lympne between August 1917 and June 1919.
These ground crew mechanics were responsible for the structural components of aircraft, including its wood, wires and fabric. It’s likely he would have worked on planes bound for the Western Front, amongst other duties.
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The photographs show Gabriel standing beside a De Havilland DH4, typical of the types prepared and sent over to the Western Front. In his spare time, he played for the No 8 Aircraft Acceptance Park football team – he fondly remembered them being runners up in the the 1918/19 season at Lympne and there are photos of the team and his medal.
Another highlight was being taken up by one of the pilots and being flown through a loop. Interestingly, he started his time at Lympne as a Sergeant in the RFC (Royal Flying Corps) but left as an RAF Flight Sergeant, after witnessing the formation of the Royal Air Force in April 1918.
In 1919 he was transferred from Lympne to the Equipment and Personnel Department (or EPD) in Chingford. However, a matter of days later he moved to No 10 Aircraft Acceptance Park at Brooklands, in Surrey, where he stayed for six months.
He went on to work at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, followed by spells at Spitalgate, in Lincolnshire, and Duxford, in Cambridgeshire. Gabriel then returned to his native West Derby region of Liverpool where he became a heating engineer in civilian life.
Sport continued to be his forte as a bachelor, playing football in the winter and baseball in the summer. Gabriel represented England playing baseball at international level, winning two caps in 1920 and 1924 against Wales on both occasions.
He married late in life, hence his son being alive and well today, living in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Gabriel died in 1970 at the age of 84.
Lympne Airfield History Society’s next meeting is on Tuesday, November 4. Kent author Martin Lloyd will be talking about ‘Buzz Bombs and Bicycles’ as he rides through northern France examining V1 launch sites from 1944.
Meetings take place in Lympne church, doors open at 6.30pm and entry is £3. For more information, call 07508 708725 or email: johnsimpson43@btinternet.com
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