Spriggs Will WWI
Hi Peter,
A few observances on Part III
The aircraft:
The FK8 AW160 had double Lewis machine guns for the observer and a Vickers rigid mounted machine gun for the pilot.
The pilot did all the photography and the observer was to make sure the pilot could do his job and keep Hun aircraft at bay. If any strafing was to be done it would have been by the pilot.
The mission:
Dad’s log book show him on “Line Patrol and going to a new airdrome at Malincourt” on the 17th of October. Later that day his log book shows
him on “Counter Attack” so I would think the mission was an afternoon sortie. The first Sortie was for two hours and the second was two and a
quarter hours. From Dad’s description in his letter to Arthur Wright, his aircraft was the only one on the mission.
Dad’s Military life:
He signed up on 22 Feb 1916 and spent that summer in training before sailing in September for England. Between arrival in the UK and and August
(or so) in 1917 he completed his basic training and joined a signal corps where he learned his morse code. He applied for officer training and
aircraft schooling which was granted. He was successful and discharged from the Canadian Armed Forces and joined the Imperial Army on 20 Feb 1918. On April 1 1918 the RAF was formed with 2nd Lieutenant William Spriggs a part of it. He then continued his flight training, photgraphy
courses, gunnery school, ground signals, cross country, formation flying, bombing, buzzing and a few others until 20 July 1918. He then went
Winchester for Artillery and Infantry CO-OP school until the 10th of August 1918 He then was transferred to France and joined 8th Squadron on
18th of August. I remember Dad telling me his observer, Oscar Berridge as a ‘crack shot’. Good thing, they may not have made it with a lesser
man.
Miscellaneous:
During the summer of 1915 Dad got home on weekends occasionally while on military training and photos seem to indicate this judging by his
army uniform, kilt and all.
To answer Randi’s question, Mum & Dab travelled at least once to check out farming in Canada. Land was very cheap in Canada so their ‘bang for
the buck’ would go much further in Canada. The farm and house had been empty for sometime when they bought it which might also have meant a lower price and it was out of the way which would mean a possible further price reduction as well. Schooling was not a problem. Wolfeville had
Acadia University, where Dad was enrolled, Kings College School (private) where Bob was enrolled (and where he met Hazel Warneford, his wife to
be, and Edgehill School for Girls (private) where Alison and Hester went (and also met a young lass known as Agnes Elizabeth Mary Lickfold) who
as eventually introduced to a youngish RAF veteran. The rest is, as they say, history. So you can see that moving to Nova Scotia was a place offering possibilities.
Eleanor might be right about other reasons for leaving good old blighty but we will never know for sure.
The pictures of Dad in his uniform were all taken in 1919 after his return to Canada as noted by the uniform itself but also the ‘wings’. I guess
he didn’t have any clothes that would fit him (I know that I grew until I was 21) or they had been thrown out earlier.
I hope you don’t mind all the knitpicking Peter, but there you are. This project is really a large task and you are doing a great job. Good on ya!
love to you and Randi and the rest of the family
John
From: Peter Bruce
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2020 10:18 PM
To: John & Phyllis Spriggs ; Hilary Hellum ; Spriggs David & Marilyn ; Timothy Hellum ; Gillian Roach ; Harrison Bruce ; Robin Bruce ; Randi Mjolsness ; Peter Bruce
Subject: Your thoughts on England: Tales of a Time Traveler
Hi folks,
Attached is Part 3 of a 6 part digital book on the extended Spriggs family. Part 3 has a piece on William Spriggs b. 1898. In a spare moment, I would much appreciate any feedback (errors, omissions, over the top silliness, you name it) that you come across in the Spriggs piece or throughout. If time does not permit, not a problem. I shall feed it to the cat and seek a real life.
The plan is to put the end result on my website as an easy way for all to access and if for those who wish, download it. Remaining parts should not be far behind. Note: Because of the 2 column layout this will likely not display well on personal devices.
Much love, Peter
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Hi John,
This is brilliant. Many thanks for digging it up. Very helpful to know the model of plane, details of signalling skills, the one-way technology and the photography techniques. Re. Morse code, I’m reminded of his interest in this back at the farm when we built a morse signalling station. I recall mum saying he’d erected an antenna on a high pole with much effort, only to have it come done in a blow. But back up it went. So he was well-versed in Morse before he joined up. That would have made him a valuable asset indeed. Particularly interesting is this: “Counter Attack. Hun down in flames at Le Cateau” That confirms what I yesterday surmised:
- Per the DFC certificate, Will was under the command of General Rawlinson who led the fourth army of the British Expeditionary Force
- They were one part of 10 battles fought during the Hundred Days Offensive from Aug 8 to Nov 11 (Armistice)
- The battles occurred sequentially along the Hindenberg Line, the German defensive position of fortified villages, trenches and artillery emplacements across central France
- Will under Rawlinson was in the Battle of the Selle (River)which had proved a topographic challenge to cross, for on the opposite bank the Germans were well dug in amid a steep high embankment
- Rawlinson took 6 days to organize the assault then at dawn on 17 Oct advanced across the river
- Will must have been in the air at the same time as it could not have been earlier because of darkness. The Morse feedback on artillery positions and German responses to the attack would have been key to the assault’s success
- Le Cateau was the nearby village just beyond the River Selle
Back to typing. I will send on the result for corrections by family when finished. Thanks again John. Peter
Hey Peter,
I have a few things for you.
1) The audio recording of my mum interviewing Will about his WWI flying experiences was from 1986. I once started to type up the transcript from it, and while it is only 34min in length, the task of transcribing is much longer. I will send it on should I tackle that again. The recording is in MP3 format and is 50mb in size. I will zip it up and wetransfer.com it to you.
2) Many years ago, when I was studying at the UofA I volunteered at the student paper there and became the photo editor, giving me access to the rather well-equipped studio cove there. I took my grandfather into the studio during one of his visits to us over Christmas time (1985) and photographed him. Unfortunately, I used and already-shot roll of film and so double-exposed every frame. First mortified, but then delighted with the results at the time, I scanned them in and made a mini site of them here: http://hellum.ca/Will.
3) I have my uncle Bill reciting three poems from a visit I made out your way in 2012. I will wetransfer those to you as well. I split them up into three MP3s.
Hope all is well. I am self-isolating here as well, purely as a good measure.
love,
/timothy
Hi Peter,
I have a couple of notes about Dad which I shall pass along shortly. You can see by checking the 1919 London Gazette and Googleing William Spriggs, the notification of the award of the DFC to him and to his observer, Oscar Berridge. The planes Dad flew were not fighters. Quite probably it was a Armstrong Whitworth AW90 a two seater observer plane. I shall confirm that when I find his log book. These aircraft were certainly not meant to get into dog fights as they were rather cumbersome. They happened upon a German observer plane while returning to home base and two started shooting at one another. When the German fire hit the fuel pump (run by a prop on the wing above Dad’s head) he broke off the fight but then his obserer pounded him on the back to show the enemy plane going down with smoke trailing behind. The DFC was more about the mission they were on. I shall give more on that later.
John
Hi John, David and Hilary,
I trust all are well at your end. We are just fine. While I’m staying close to home these days I thought I’d get started on my long-held intention to do a write-up on the family. The original intention was a modest affair: Our multiple families through the ages against the backdrop of the rise and fall of the British Empire. By the end of the first half hour it was pared down to ‘a selection of events in the Spriggs extended family from the late 1500s.’
That brought me to Will’s dogfight. How would you (and the family) feel if I included a write-up on Will in the ‘book.’ It will be an e-book placed on my public website as 5 pdf files which folks can download or link to. It’s not intended to be a family history, per se, rather an attempt to interest, particularly the younger generation, in the remarkable individuals we have in the family tree and in a small way, bring the tree to life.
Let me know what you think. John, do you recall the model of aircraft that Will flew in that dogfight? A Sopwith or Bristol per chance?
Much love, Peter (and Randi)