To date, seven Canadian airmen have received the Commonwealth’s highest honor, the Victoria Cross. Of the three awarded it in World War I, two, William Avery Bishop and William George Barker, were fighter pilots. The third, Alan McLeod, earned his V.C. in what was known as the “army cooperation” role.
Alan Arnett McLeod was born on April 20, 1899, in Stonewall, Manitoba, just north of Winnipeg. At 14 he joined a local militia unit, the 34th Fort Garry Horse, but after war broke out in Europe he set his sights skyward and joined the Royal Flying Corps as soon as he turned 18. He got his wings and a temporary second lieutenant’s commission on July 31, 1917, and on Aug. 20 he left for Europe aboard the steamship Metagama.
Flying Cows
After some time flying Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2bs with 51 (Home Defence) Squadron at Marham, McLeod was assigned to No.82 Squadron, a newly formed army cooperation unit equipped with Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8s. Known as the “Big Ack,” the airplane saw service primarily in a reconnaissance role but occasionally served as a bomber. In a letter home, McLeod described the airplane as “having the aerodynamics of a cow,” but he also noted, “I looped one the other day.”
On Nov. 29, McLeod was reassigned to an already operational F.K.8 unit, No.2 Squadron at Hesdigneul- lès -Béthune, France, on the Flanders front. By mid-January 1918, its commander, Maj. Wilfred Rippon Snow, was recommending him for the Military Cross, reporting, “He has shown keenness in his work, and I regard him as a most capable and reliable artillery pilot.”
In the Path of the Red Baron
In March 1918, McLeod was assigned to Temporary Lt. Arthur William Hammond as his observer. Born on Aug. 29, 1890, at Walton on the Hill, Lancashire, Hammond had served in the Horse Guards and the Royal Engineers before entering the RFC. On Feb. 18, 1918, he was on a photographic mission with Australian Capt. Jack M. Allport when they were attacked by six Pfalz D.IIIs. Coolly manning his Lewis machine gun, Hammond received credit for downing two assailants, one in flames. Hammond and Allport were both subsequently awarded the M.C.
On March 21, the Germans launched Operation Michael, the first of a series of offensives intended to achieve victory on the Western front before the Americans arrived in full strength. British units in Flanders were in the path of that first onslaught, whose air assets included Jagdgeschwader (fighter wing) I, Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen’s notorious “Flying Circus.”
On March 27, Maj. Snow dispatched seven F.K.8s to bomb the Germans at Bray-sur-Somme, France, near Albert. Fog ruined the mission, however, and McLeod damaged his F.K.8’s landing gear while landing at No.43 Squadron’s aerodrome at Avesnes-le-Comte. By the time the undercarriage was repaired, all other F.K.8s had returned to base, but McLeod decided to carry out the mission alone.
Spotting an enemy artillery battery through the fog, he was about to descend on it when a Fokker Dr.I emerged from a cloud and attacked. McLeod maneuvered to give Hammond a good shot. Hammond fired three bursts and saw the triplane spin down. Just then, another Dr.I dropped out of the cloud, followed by six more. Their tails bore the black and white bands of Jasta 6, a component of the Red Baron’s Circus.
Heroic Moment
What followed is best summed up in McLeod’s citation:
“By great skill and coolness in flying, 2nd Lieutenant McLeod enabled Lieutenant Hammond to fire burst at each machine in turn, shooting down three of them out of control. Up to this time 2nd Lieutenant McLeod had received five wounds. He was continuing the engagement when a bullet penetrated the petrol tank of his machine, which caught fire. He managed, however, to climb out onto the left bottom plane, controlling his machine from the side of the fuselage, side-slipping steeply, keeping the flames to one side and enabling the observer to fire until the machine reached the ground.
“Lieutenant Hammond had been hit six times. Machine crashed in ‘No Man’s Land.’ 2nd Lieutenant McLeod, in spite of his wounds and under very heavy machine gun fire from the enemy lines, dragged Lieutenant Hammond, who was more seriously hit than himself, away from the burning wreckage and the bombs on the machine. 2nd Lieutenant McLeod was then wounded by the explosion of one of the bombs while doing this. He managed to get Lieutenant Hammond to comparative safety before he himself fell, through exhaustion and loss of blood.”
Rescue and Recovery
McLeod and Hammond were rescued by South African troops, one of whom told McLeod reassuringly, “You will be in Blighty in a few days.”
“That’s just the trouble,” the Canadian replied, “I would like to have a crack at that so-and-so who brought me down.”
That so-and so was Lt. Hans Kirschstein, who received his third victory that day for shooting down McLeod’s F.K.8. (In spite of Allied perceptions, Jasta 6 lost no aircraft that day.) Kirschstein had increased his score to 27 and received the Orden Pour le Mérite by July 16, when he and a Staffel mate were killed in an accidental crash. McLeod and Hammond outlived the man who shot them down.
Hammond lost a leg but got a bar to his M.C. and his total of five victories in two combats made him No.2 Squadron’s sole ace. He later moved to Canada, dying in Victoria, British Columbia, on Dec. 22, 1959.
On Sept. 4, McLeod received the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace. After all he had endured and accomplished, however, he fell victim to the worldwide influenza pandemic and died on Nov. 6, 1918, at age 19. Five days later, the armistice brought the Great War to an end. The remains of Canada’s youngest V.C. recipient now rest in the Old Kildonan Presbyterian Cemetery in Winnipeg.