ARTWORKS

Richard Bell-Davies, VC, Rescues Gilbert Formby Smylie at Ferrijik Junction, Bulgaria, 19 November 1915

Kenneth A. McDonough (1921–2002)

Fleet Air Arm Museum

Richard Bell-Davies, VC, Rescues Gilbert Formby Smylie at Ferrijik Junction, Bulgaria, 19 November 1915

© the artist's estate. Image credit: Fleet Air Arm Museum

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Richard Bell-Davies was the second naval airman to win the Victoria Cross in World War I. He had joined the Royal Navy in 1901 and would have remained a seaman officer had he not become captivated by aviation in 1910. Bell-Davies learned to fly at his own expense in 1911. At RNAS Eastchurch when the war broke out, he served in France and then Gallipoli. Returning from a bombing raid on Bulgarian targets on 19 November 1915, Bell-Davies saw that a fellow pilot, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Smylie, had been shot down behind enemy lines at Ferrijik. Under enemy fire, Bell-Davies landed, crammed Smylie into the fuselage of his single-seater aircraft and flew both of them back to base.

Fleet Air Arm Museum

Ilchester

Title

Richard Bell-Davies, VC, Rescues Gilbert Formby Smylie at Ferrijik Junction, Bulgaria, 19 November 1915

Date

1979–1980

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 76.5 x W 102 cm

Accession number

E01534

Acquisition method

purchased from the artist, 1980

Work type

Painting

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Fleet Air Arm Museum

RNAS Yeovilton, Ilchester, Somerset BA22 8HT England

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Artist or maker

Kenneth A. McDonough

1921–2002

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