Cuthbert Hoare: Difference between revisions

{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

Brigadier-General '''Cuthbert Gurney Hoare''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|CMG|sep=yes}} (21 January 1883 – 31 January 1969) was an officer of the British and [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], who served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, and as the commander of [[Royal Flying Corps Canada]].<ref name="rafweb">{{cite web |url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Hoare.htm |title=Brigadier-General Cuthbert Gurney Hoare |first=M. B. |last=Barrass |work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation |year=2015 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref>

Hoare was the youngest of five sons of Charles Richard Gurney Hoare {{post-nominals|country=GBR|JP}}, and Rachel Georgina Bevan, of [[Biggleswade]], [[Bedfordshire]],<ref name="armorialfamilies">{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/stream/armorialfamilies01foxd#page/950/mode/2up |title=Armorial families: a directory of gentlemen of coat armour |first=Arthur Charles |last=Fox-Davies |authorlink=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies |edition=7th |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Hurst & Blackett]] |year=1929 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref> and was educated at [[Harrow School]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name="rafweb"/>

Hoare learned to fly, being awarded Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No. 126 on 29 August 1911, after flying a [[Bristol Boxkite]] at the Bristol Flying School on [[Salisbury Plain]] after four weeks instruction.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200754.html |title=Royal Aero Club |issue=140 |volume=III |page=756 & 761 |journal=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=2 September 1911 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref> In June 1913, Hoare was selected for training as an instructor for the newly created Indian Flying Corps, undertaking a course at the [[Central Flying School]] at [[RAF Upavon|Upavon]] before being officially appointed a flying instructor at the Indian Central Flying School at [[Sitapur]] on 14 April 1914.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200630.html |title=The Indian Flying Corps |issue=233 |volume=V |page=656 |journal=Flight |date=14 June 1913 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |date=12 June 1914 |issue=28839 |page=4620 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

No. 7 Squadron were sent to France on 8 April, equipped with two flights of [[Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5|R.E.5]]s and one flight of [[Vickers F.B.5|Vickers Fighters]] (which were soon replaced by [[Voisin III|Voisins]]), and soon found itself engaged in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]]. Its first operations were flown on 16 April 1915, with each aircraft carrying three {{Convert|20|lb|adj=on}} bombs. Tactical reconnaissance, artillery observation and bombing were its main duties, and on 12 May one aircraft made a particularly valuable reconnaissance, reporting a stream of enemy traffic moving through [[Valenciennes]] towards [[Douai]] and [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]], the first indication that the Germans were easing their pressure on Ypres and moving south for the [[battle of Festubert]]. No. 7 Squadron was then assigned to patrol the front lines between [[La Bassée]] and Lens, to provide cover for artillery observation aircraft during the [[battle of Loos]]. The squadron's awards list was opened on 15 July 1915 when Captain [[John Aidan Liddell]] won the [[Victoria Cross]], bringing back his damaged aircraft despite being severely wounded. The squadron also had some success as a bomber unit, notably on a raid in September 1915 when Lieutenant M. G. Christie dropped two {{Convert|112|lb|adj=on}} bombs on the railway yard at [[Valenciennes]] from a height of {{Convert|4800|ft}}. His bombs hit two ammunition trains, both of which exploded, causing an immense amount of damage. Hoare finally handed over command of No. 7 Squadron to Major F. L. J. Cogan on 7 November 1915.<ref>{{cite journal |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1951/1951%20-%200944.html |title=No. 7 Squadron: The History of a Famous Bomber Unit (Part I) |first=John |last=Yoxall |issue=2208 |volume=LIX |pages=589–591 |journal=Flight |date=18 May 1951 |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref>

On 15 November 1915 Hoare was appointed Assistant Commandant of the Central Flying School at Upavon, with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=19 November 1915 |supp=y |issue=29375 |page=11561 |nolink=yes}}</ref> serving there until 2 April 1916,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=2 May 1916 |supp=y |issue=29567 |page=4441 |nolink=yes}}</ref> when he was appointed a wing commander,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=25 April 1916 |issue=29559 |page=4238 |nolink=yes}}</ref> to serve as [[Officer Commanding]], No. 14 (Army) Wing,<ref name="rafweb"/> tasked with supporting [[Fourth Army (United Kingdom)|Fourth Army]] during the [[battle of the Somme]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Thomas G. |last=Bradbeer |title=The Battle for Air Supremacy over the Somme, 1 June–30 November 1916 |format=PDF |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA428801 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206070809/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA428801 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 February 2015 |date=18 June 2004 |work=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref> On 13 November 1916 Hoare was one of a long list of officers [[mentioned in despatches]] by General Sir [[Douglas Haig]], Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29890 |date=2 January 1917 |page=204 |supp=y |nolink=yes}}</ref>