Lanoe George Hawker, VC, DSO (30 December 1890 â 23 November 1916) was a British flying ace of the First World War. Having seven credited victories, he was the third pilot to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth servicemen.
He was killed in a dogfight with the famous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”), who described him as “the British Boelcke”.
In 1915, Captain Hawker was a comrade of Captain Louis Strange. The Squadron became pioneers of many aspects in military aviation at the time, driven largely by the imagination of Strange and the engineering talents of Hawker. Their talents led to various mountings for Lewis machine guns, one of which won Hawker the Victoria Cross, and one that nearly cost Strange his life.
Hawker’s innovative ideas at this time greatly benefited the fledgling RFC. He helped to invent the Prideaux disintegrating link machine-gun belt feed, and initiated the practice of putting fabric protective coverings on the tips of wooden propellers, the use of fur-lined thigh boots, and devising a primitive ‘rocking fuselage’ for target practice on the ground. In 1916 he also developed (with W.L. French) the increased capacity 97-round ‘double drum’ for the Lewis machine gun. It was issued for trials in July and after modifications was issued generally to the RFC and RNAS.
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