Son of a distinguished military family, Hawker was born on December 30, 1890, and joined the Royal Engineers as an officer cadet on completion of his education. Always a clever inventor, and keen on anything mechanical, he transferred to the RFC before the outbreak of war, already having qualified as a pilot privately at Hendon. He was posted to France with 6 Squadron I October 1914, flying Henry Farmans. The squadron later converted to BE2Cs and he undertook much reconnaissance work, together with a lone bombing attack on some Zeppelin shed, receiving the Distinguished Service Order for these operations.
During 1915 the squadron began receiving a few scouting aircraft, and some FE2 two-seater pushers. Hawker designed a special mounting for a Lewis gun to be fitted to a Bristol Scout, so that it could fire forward and outward at an angle, missing the propeller arc. He had frequently attempted without success to attack enemy aircraft with rifle and revolver fire, but now, with this new armament, he can be said to have become the first true fighting scout pilot of the RFC. Following an initial victory in June, he made three flights in a Bristol Scout on July 25, 1915 during which he claimed two enemy aircraft, one in flames and one forced to land; for this feat he was awarded a Victoria Cross. He continued attacking the enemy either in his Bristol, or in an FE, supplementing the observers’ Lewis gun fire with his own Lee-Enfield rifle in the latter, and claimed at least three more victories in August, two of these on the 11th.
He was posted to England in late 1915, by which time he was credited with at least seven victories; this made him the first British ace and a figure of considerable fame in the RFC. In England he was given the task of forming the first single-seat fighting squadron, No. 24, with the new DH2 Pusher scouts, and in February 1916, promoted to Major, he led this unit to France, where it quickly made its presence felt. As Commanding Officer he did not get much chance to fly himself, and did not add to his victories. As the year wore on, the Germans introduced the new tractor scouts to the front, and the early superiority of the DH2s was lost. Flying with his squadron whenever he could in order to encourage the pilots, he became involved in a dogfight with an Albatros DII flown by Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen on November 23, 1916. This classic combat was one of the longest on record as each pilot used all his skill to try and outmaneuver the other. Finally, short of fuel, Hawker was forced to try and run for home, whereupon he was shot down and killed, becoming Richthofen’s 11th victim.
Displayed in the cases at the front of the museum are two items that were souvenired by Richthofen off of Hawker; his YMCA bible and a handkerchief. Also are displayed two Sliver Cups presented to Lanoe by his brother commemorating the date of his Victoria Cross being awarded.
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