Group Captain Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees, (31 July 1884 – 28 September 1955) was a Welsh aviator, flying ace, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was credited with eight confirmed aerial victories, comprising one enemy aircraft captured, one destroyed, one "forced to land" and five "driven down". Rees and his gunner, Flight Sergeant James McKinley Hargreaves, were the only two airmen to become aces flying the earliest purpose-built British fighter aeroplane, the Vickers Gunbus.

Rees also had a keen interest in archaeology. While flying from Cairo to Baghdad in the 1920s, he took some of the earliest archaeological aerial photographs of sites in eastern Transjordan (now Jordan), and published several articles in Antiquity and the journal of the Palestine Exploration Fund. He is considered a father of the archaeological studies of this remote area, and a pioneer of aerial archaeology. He was also an accomplished sailor.

Early life and education

Rees was born at 5 Castle Street, Caernarfon, on 31 July 1884, the son of Charles Herbert Rees, a solicitor and honorary colonel in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and his wife Leonara.

Rees was commissioned on 23 December 1903 into the Royal Garrison Artillery and was posted to Gibraltar. Promoted to lieutenant in 1906, he moved to Sierra Leone in 1908 and in May 1913 was seconded to the Southern Nigeria Regiment. He first saw action flying the Vickers Gunbus with No. 11 Squadron in mid-1915, earning a reputation as an aggressive pilot and an above average marksman.

By this time he had claimed one aircraft captured, one destroyed, one "forced to land" and five "driven down".

In the first hours of the Somme Offensive, Rees was on patrol, taking off in Airco DH.2 No. 6015 at 0555 hours. His attempt to join a formation of "British" machines brought an attack from one of the Germans. He shot up the attacker, hitting its fuselage between the two aircrew. As it dived away, Rees attacked a Roland. Long range fire from three other Germans did not discourage Rees from closing on it; it emitted a hazy cloud of smoke from its engine from the 30 rounds Rees fired into it and it fled. Rees then single-handedly went after five more Germans. A bullet in the thigh paralysed his leg, forcing him to temporarily break off his assault. As the shock of the wound wore off, he was able to pursue the German formation leader, which was leaving after dropping its bomb. He fired his Lewis machine gun empty. In frustration, he drew his pistol but dropped it into his DH.2's nacelle. Meanwhile, the German two-seater pulled away above him. The German formation was shattered and scattered.

Rees gave up the futile chase, and returned to base. Once landed, he calmly asked for steps so he could deplane.

He convalesced for a while due to his injuries from the 1 July action, and went on a War Office mission to the United States, becoming a temporary lieutenant colonel in May 1917.

Post-war career

On 2 November 1918 Rees was awarded the Air Force Cross in recognition of valuable flying services. In 1919, Rees was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. On 1 August 1919 he resigned his commission with the Royal Garrison Artillery and took a permanent commission in the newly formed Royal Air Force as a lieutenant-colonel. In 1920, Rees was presented with a sword and the freedom of Caernarfon.

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In June 1920, he took command of the flying wing at RAF College Cranwell, becoming the assistant commandant in March 1923.

When the Second World War broke out, Rees returned to the United Kingdom from the Bahamas and once again joined the RAF. He relinquished his rank of group captain in January 1941 at his own request and was granted the rank of wing commander. He served in Africa. On 21 November 1942 Rees reverted to the rank of group captain on the retired list.

Rees returned home to the Bahamas and, on 12 August 1947, aged 62, he married Sylvia Williams,

Death and legacy

Rees died at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau on 28 September 1955

Rees' grandson is the swimmer, Nicholas Rees.

Selected publications

Rees wrote under the name 'L. W. B. Rees'.

  • 1916: Fighting in the Air
  • 1927: 'Ancient Reservoirs near Kasr Azrak'
  • 1929: 'The Transjordan Desert'
  • 1930: 'Transjordan: an ancient and a modern raid'
  • 1948: 'The Route of the Exodus: The First Stage, Ramies to Etham'

References

;Citations

;Bibliography

Further reading

  • www.theaerodrome.com – Lionel Rees
  • Undated photograph of Rees
  • A short biography