Ernest Foot

{{Short description|English World War I flying ace}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}  {{Infobox military person | name = Ernest Leslie Foot | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1895|5|19}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1923|6|23|1895|5|19}} | birth_place = [[Pulborough]], [[Sussex]], [[England]] | death_place = Near [[Chertsey]], [[Surrey]], England | burial_label = | burial_place = | burial_coordinates =  | nickname = Feet | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army<br/>Royal Air Force | service_years = 1914–1919 | rank = Major | unit = [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]<br/>[[No. 11 Squadron RAF|No. 11 Squadron RFC]]<br/>[[No. 60 Squadron RAF|No. 60 Squadron RFC]]<br/>[[No. 56 Squadron RAF|No. 56 Squadron RFC]] | commands = | battles = | awards = [[Military Cross]] | relations = | other_work = Commercial and test pilot, instructor and air racer. }} Major '''Ernest Leslie Foot''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MC}} (19 May 1895 – 23 June 1923) was an English [[World War I]] [[flying ace]] credited with five aerial victories. He was the best friend of [[Albert Ball]].<ref name="theaerodrome">{{cite web |url= http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/foot.php |title=Ernest Leslie Foot |work=The Aerodrome |year=2014 |accessdate=12 December 2014}}</ref>

==Military career== Foot was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the infantry on 27 October 1914,<ref>{{London Gazette |date=30 October 1914 |supp=y |issue=28959 |page=8848 |nolink=yes}}</ref> and was promoted to lieutenant in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] on 28 December 1914.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=5 February 1915 |supp=y |issue=29062 |page=1300 |nolink=yes}}</ref> He was transferred from the OBLI to the [[General List]] and appointed a flying officer (observer) in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 21 October 1915.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=4 February 1916 |issue=29463 |page=1366 |nolink=yes}}</ref><ref name="Gazzupdate">{{London Gazette |date=28 April 1916 |supp=y |issue=29563 |page=4329 |nolink=yes}}</ref> On 20 December 1915 he was granted Aviators' Certificate No. 2257 after flying a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military Flying School at [[Farnborough Airport|Farnborough]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1916/1916%20-%200059.html |title=Aviators' Certificates |issue=369 |volume=VIII |page=59 |journal= [[Flight International|Flight]] |date=20 January 1916 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> and was appointed a flying officer on 10 February 1916.<ref name="Gazzupdate"/>

Foot was assigned to No. 11 Squadron RFC, where he befriended Ball.<ref name="theaerodrome"/> On 23 July 1916 he was appointed a [[flight commander]] with the temporary rank of captain.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=1 August 1916 |supp=y |issue=29691 |page=7636 |nolink=yes}}</ref> Between 9 September and 15 September 1916, flying [[Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2]]b No. 7016, Foot destroyed three enemy aircraft. The day after his third win, he transferred to No. 60 Squadron. There was a [[SPAD S.VII]] on trial with the unit; Foot used it to destroy an [[Albatros Flugzeugwerke|Albatros]] two-seater on 28 September. He then used a [[Nieuport 17]] to drive down a [[Roland C.II]] on 21 October 1916. On 26 October, Foot was shot down in flames by German ace [[Hans Imelmann]]; somehow, Foot crash-landed unscathed.<ref name="theaerodrome"/> On 3 November, he was sent back to England for a rest.<ref name="ABT157">Shores ''et.al.'' (1990), p. 157.</ref> Shortly afterwards his award of the Military Cross was gazetted. He joined No. 56 Squadron on 10 March 1917, as it mobilized as the first squadron to operate the [[Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5]]. Once again, he was a flight commander. However, an auto accident the night before the squadron departed for France knocked Foot out of flying for the remainder of the war.<ref name="ABT157"/> However, he continued to serve, being promoted to temporary major on 30 April 1918,<ref> {{London Gazette |date=11 June 1918 |issue=30741 |page=6935 |nolink=yes}}</ref> and was an instructor at the No. 1 School of Special Flying based at [[RAF Gosport]].<ref name="FlightObit">{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200350.html |title=Major E. L. Foot, M.C. |issue=757 |volume=XV |page=350 |journal= Flight |date=28 June 1923 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> Finally, on 11 April 1919, Foot was transferred to the RAF's unemployed list, bringing his military career to an end.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=9 September 1919 |issue=31543 |page=11357 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

==Postwar career== [[file:G-EAVP .jpg|thumb|right|''G-EAVP'', the [[Bristol M.1]] in which Foot was killed]] After leaving the Royal Air Force Foot joined the [[Handley Page Transport]] company as a [[Commercial pilot license|commercial pilot]] flying the London to Paris passenger route,<ref name="FlightObit"/> finally leaving the company in April 1923 to take a position with the [[Bristol Aeroplane Company]] as a test pilot<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200210.html |title=London Terminal Aerodrome |issue=747 |volume=XV |page=210 |journal= Flight |date=19 April 1923 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> and instructor with their flying school operated on behalf of the Royal Air Force Reserve.<ref name="FlightObit"/> On 21 April 1923 Foot was granted a commission as a probationary flying officer (Class "A") in the General Duties Branch of the RAF Reserve.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=24 April 1923 |issue=32817 |page=2970 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

Foot was also a noted competitor in the popular [[Air racing|air races]] of the day. In July 1921 he took part in the Sixth [[Aerial Derby]], organised by the Royal Aero Club, flying a {{Convert|100|mi|adj=on|0}} circuit around London twice, in a [[Martinsyde Buzzard|Martinsyde F.4]] fitted with a {{cvt|300|hp|0|lk=on}} [[Hispano-Suiza]] engine.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200468.html |title=The Aerial Derby 1921 |issue=655 |volume=XIII |pages=468 |journal=Flight |date=14 July 1921 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> Unfortunately engine problems caused his retirement during the first lap.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200487.html |title=The Sixth Aerial Derby |issue=656 |volume=XIII |page=487 |journal=Flight |date=21 July 1921 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref>

In September 1921 he led the "White Team" in a relay team event for the Air League Challenge Cup, as part of the first Aviation Race Meeting held by the Royal Aero Club at [[Croydon Aerodrome]]. Again mechanical problems meant that his team had to withdraw.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200632.html |title=First Aviation Race Meeting at Croydon |issue=665 |volume=XIII |page=632 |journal=Flight |date=22 September 1921 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref>

In June 1922, at the Third Croydon Aviation Race Meeting, Foot took third place in the First Sprint Handicap flying the Martinsyde F.4.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1922/1922%20-%200324.html |title=The Third Croydon Aviation Race Meeting |issue=702 |volume=XIV |page=324 |journal=Flight |date=8 June 1922 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref>

A year later, in June 1923, Foot was entered into the first [[Grosvenor Challenge Cup]]. He was sponsored by [[White baronets|Sir George Stanley White]], the Managing Director of the Bristol Company, and flew the [[Bristol M.1]]D monoplane, [[Aircraft registration|registered]] G-EAVP, fitted with a {{cvt|100|hp|0}} [[Bristol Lucifer]] engine.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200328.html |title=The Grosvenor Challenge Cup |issue=756 |volume=XV |page=328 |journal=Flight |date=21 June 1923 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> The race took place in stages, beginning at [[Lympne Airport|Lympne]], Kent, with stops at Croydon, Birmingham, and Bristol, before returning to Croydon, and ending at Lympne. When Foot landed at [[Filton Aerodrome]], Bristol, his aircraft had developed a fuel leak, and Foot appeared affected by petrol fumes. However, after repairs he set off again, but his aircraft crashed on the Stonehill Road between [[Chertsey]] and [[Chobham]], and burst into flames. Foot was killed instantly.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200346.html |title=The Grosvenor Challenge Cup |issue=757 |volume=XV |page=346 |journal= Flight |date=28 June 1923 |accessdate=12 December 2014 }}</ref> He had been married only a few months before.<ref name="FlightObit"/>

==Honours and awards== ;Military Cross :Temporary Lieutenant (Temporary Captain) Ernest Leslie Foot, General List and R.F.C. :For conspicuous skill and gallantry. When flying a single-seater scout, he dived on to five hostile machines, which were flying at about 2,500 feet, and drove one to the ground as a wreck. On many other occasions he has shown great determination when fighting enemy machines.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=14 November 1916 |supp=y |issue=29824 |page=11053 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

==References== ;Notes {{reflist}} ;Bibliography * {{cite book |first1=Christopher F. |last1=Shores |first2=Norman |last2=Franks |authorlink2=Norman Franks |first3=Russell F. |last3=Guest |title=Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 |location=London, UK |publisher=Grub Street |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-948817-19-9 |name-list-style=amp}}

==External links== *[http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/foot.php Ernest Foot at The Aerodrome Forum]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foot, Ernest}} [[Category:1895 births]] [[Category:1923 deaths]] [[Category:Military personnel from West Sussex]] [[Category:People from Pulborough]] [[Category:Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:British World War I flying aces]] [[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]] [[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England]] [[Category:British commercial aviators]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1923]]