82 Facts About Mick Mannock

Mick Mannock was among the most decorated men in the British Armed Forces.

Mick Mannock was honoured with the Military Cross twice, was one of the rare three-time recipients of the Distinguished Service Order, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Mick Mannock was born in 1887 to an English father, Edward Mick Mannock, and an Irish mother, Julia Sullivan.

Mick Mannock's father served in the British Army and the family moved to India when Mick Mannock was a child.

Young Mick Mannock was sickly and developed several ailments in his formative years.

In 1914, Mick Mannock was working as a telephone engineer in Turkey.

Mick Mannock recovered and joined the Royal Engineers and then Royal Army Medical Corps.

Mick Mannock moved services again and in 1916 joined Royal Flying Corps.

Mick Mannock went into combat on the Western Front, participating in three separate combat tours.

Edward Mick Mannock was born on 24 May 1887 to Julia and Edward Mick Mannock, of English, Irish and Scottish descent.

Mick Mannock's father was a newspaper editor on Fleet Street and his uncle George Mannock was a friend of the British Royal Family.

The young Mick Mannock was a keen sports fan and he enjoyed cricket and football.

Mick Mannock did enjoy shooting and used an air gun in target-shooting and he was a passionate violin player, and was skilled with a variety of other instruments.

Mick Mannock moved to Wellingborough, Northamptonshire in 1911 to take his position.

Mick Mannock joined the Territorial Army and served in the Royal Army Medical Corps at this time to keep in touch with his friends from Canterbury at the annual camps.

Mick Mannock was keen to develop his musical talents and was personally tutored by her.

Mick Mannock became a political activist, expressed socialist views, was an admirer of Keir Hardie and became the Secretary of the Wellingborough Independent Labour Party in 1912.

Mick Mannock remained a staunch supporter of the British Empire but sympathised with the Irish Home Rule movement.

Mick Mannock applied for a passport at Christmas 1913, and received a stamped copy on 10 January 1914 describing himself as a telegraph and telephone mechanic.

On 22 May 1915 Mick Mannock reported for duty with the Royal Army Medical Corps and by July he was sufficiently recovered to join them at his pre-war rank of sergeant.

Mick Mannock complained bitterly at their half-hearted efforts during practice drills.

Mick Mannock refused to continue driving ambulances or tending the sick while thousands died in battle and requested a transfer to the Royal Engineers as an officer cadet.

Mick Mannock waited for months and his rank rose from sergeant to sergeant-major.

Mick Mannock was conscious his poor education and lower-class background would put him at a considerable disadvantage in the well-educated and higher-class surroundings of the RE.

Mick Mannock despised his peers who were uninterested in the war and seemed concerned only with the uniforms, quality tailoring and how it would improve their chances with women.

Mick Mannock was initially reticent, concerned his age and physical condition would hinder him.

Mick Mannock acquired all the newspapers he could for information on the air war.

In June Mick Mannock was promoted to second lieutenant and on 14 August 1916 he arrived at the No 1 School of Military Aeronautics in Reading.

Mick Mannock received instruction on aerial gunnery, aircraft-rigging, map reading and flight theory.

Mick Mannock passed with honours and was sent to Hendon for elementary flying instruction.

Mick Mannock did so and got into a spin at 1,000 feet, deliberately.

Mick Mannock was keen to see if he could recover the aircraft from such an attitude.

Mick Mannock stalled the aircraft, purposely, and followed McCudden's advice; allow it to come out of the stall and centralise the controls, apply opposite rudder in the spin and as the spin slows ease the nose down.

Mick Mannock had discovered that air combat was a science and could be perfected.

Mick Mannock was somewhat older than his peers in the RFC and had experienced the brutality of war first-hand.

Mick Mannock was inclined to be reserved, but was a good conversationalist, patient and willing to assist others but quick to anger.

Mick Mannock masked his hatred of the Turks but the intensity with which he carried out his training was sometimes misunderstood.

Confident in his skill, Mick Mannock arrived in France on 31 March 1917 at 40 Squadron headquarters near Aire, Lens.

Mick Mannock did not give his new squadron-mates a good first impression.

Mick Mannock flew the squadron's Nieuport 17 scout the following day.

The public school boy-dominated squadron detested his "gutter politics" and mannerisms although Mick Mannock was befriended by Irishman Lieutenant de Burgh, of the same ilk.

Mick Mannock mishandled his aircraft and dropped out of formation.

On 19 April 1917, and in view of the entire squadron, Mick Mannock finally won some respect when he landed his aircraft during a firing practice after the lower right wing tore away.

Mick Mannock forced himself into the air again and continued to practice.

Mick Mannock withdrew from their company and concentrated on improving.

Mick Mannock went to view his third victory which had fallen in friendly lines.

Mick Mannock forced himself to search the wreck and discovered the remains.

Mick Mannock received the personal congratulations of the AOC Hugh Trenchard upon receiving his award at Bethune.

On that day Mick Mannock engaged a purple Albatross DV and claimed hits on the enemy leader.

Mick Mannock made two further uncredited claims in his combat report but they were not even marked as uncredited in official sources.

Mick Mannock's tally had reached nine victories and had passed the threshold of five required to become a fighter ace.

Mick Mannock made only one claim on 25 September, his last for 1917.

In early October 1917, Mick Mannock returned to England on leave as the battle at Ypres descended into stalemate.

When he landed, Mick Mannock was promptly dispatched back to England the following day.

Mick Mannock's reputation had spread well beyond the confines of his squadron and mechanics, junior officers and comrades lined the road to form an honour guard as he drove away.

In Boulogne Mick Mannock stopped at a hospital to bid farewell to an Irish nurse called Murphy; whether the two were involved in a relationship is unknown.

Mick Mannock visited Biggin Hill, an aerodrome situated on high ground near Croydon.

The squadron arrival coincided with Mick Mannock's posting to 74 Squadron at London Colney.

Mick Mannock immediately began training the inexperienced squadron combat patrol tactics.

Mick Mannock's well known phrase became the squadron's mantra: "Gentlemen, always above; seldom on the same level; never underneath".

Mick Mannock was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 9 May 1918.

Mick Mannock noted the position as "28 J 30 C 3 5".

On 18 June 1918 Mick Mannock was sent to England on leave.

Mick Mannock broke down on one occasion and seemed full of nervous tension.

Major Caldwell noted Mick Mannock never took time off unless it was officially scheduled leave and he never reported sick, but saw no signs that Mick Mannock was about to crack-up.

Mick Mannock did not want a command and preferred to remain on operations with 74 Squadron.

Mick Mannock took command of No 85 Squadron RAF on 5 July 1918.

Mick Mannock had a cadre of experienced pilots to build his leadership around.

The engine of Mick Mannock's aircraft was hit and immediately caught fire, and shortly thereafter the plane crashed behind German lines.

Mick Mannock's body is believed to have been found, though this is unproven, about 250 yards from the wreck of his machine, perhaps thrown, perhaps jumped.

The body showed no gunshot wounds, and Mick Mannock had vowed to shoot himself if shot down in flames.

Mick Mannock's nose dropped slightly and he went into a slow right-hand turn, and hit the ground in a burst of flame.

Mick Mannock's body was not subsequently recovered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, so officially he has no known grave.

Mick Mannock's name is commemorated on the Royal Flying Corps Memorial to the Missing at the Faubourg d'Amiens CWGC Cemetery in Arras.

Mick Mannock had lived at that address prior to the War after being befriended by the Eyles family.

In 2009, one of the last photographs ever taken of Mick Mannock was discovered in Northern France.

Mick Mannock is standing on a farm track holding a walking stick and gloves with his right hand.

Mick Mannock's left hand rests on the shoulder of a dark-haired young French girl.

Mick Mannock is officially credited with 61 victories: 1 balloon destroyed, 3 captured, 30 destroyed, 17 "out of control" in an itemised list of his approved claims.

Some 73 accredited by Jones to Mick Mannock and published in full by James Dudgeon in 1981, appear duplicated in error, misdated, shared claims, or unconfirmed claims.

Mick Mannock's success is due to wonderful shooting and a determination to get to close quarters; to attain this he displays most skilful leadership and unfailing courage.

Edward Mannock was given his son's other medals, even though Mick had stipulated in his will that his father should receive nothing from his estate.