Somme 1916 by Gerald Gliddon

Author:Gerald Gliddon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752487465
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-06-11T16:00:00+00:00

On 8 August Coury was made a full lieutenant, but he had decided to transfer to the RFC and on 28 August joined No. 13 Squadron at Savy Aubigny, north-west of Arras. While there he trained as an observer and qualified on 10 November. Carrying out mainly photographic reconnaissance, he flew as an observer in a De Havilland BE-2. When he attended his investiture in November 1916 he was in the uniform of the RFC and shortly afterwards returned to Liverpool where he was given a very enthusiastic welcome. He was received by the Lord Mayor and given the Freedom of the Cotton Exchange, the highest honour in the trade. In December he was also welcomed at St Francis Xavier’s School when he returned there. Two months later in February 1917 he was given two weeks leave during which time he revisited Stonyhurst where he was given a great reception. He was one of seven members of Stonyhurst to be awarded a VC and the college OTC provided a Guard of Honour.

Coury rejoined his squadron on 4 March and managed to survive ‘Bloody April’ and was back in England on 18 May in order to train for his pilot’s licence. He qualified four months later and on 20 September 1917 was eligible to begin his work as a ferry pilot when based at Kenley.

He was never to return to France as on 22 November he had a serious flying accident near Croydon when taking an aircraft abroad which crashed before reaching the channel. His aircraft caught fire and he was severely injured and badly burned. However he partially recovered in hospital in Woolwich between October and December 1917.

On 7 January 1918 Coury married Katherine Mary Lovell at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Clapham which was close to his bride’s home. Eight months later he was promoted to the rank of captain and at the end of the year his wife gave birth to a daughter, the first of three girls.

Despite his injuries, Coury returned to flying but crashed again in June and by this time he had lost confidence in his flying capabilities. Later his health declined and he was seriously ill with influenza and other medical problems. He was admitted to the RAF Hospital in Hillingdon Hall, Hampstead on 1 March 1919. After his recovery he resigned his commission and was demobilised. His home address in April 1919 was 43 Canning Street, Liverpool and in 1920 he attended the Garden Party for holders of the VC held at Buckingham Palace. In the same year he badgered the War Office about the possibility of receiving a disability pension to compensate for his injuries. For good measure he threw in neurasthenia as well. The War Office were not at all sympathetic to his pleas and his injuries were ‘deemed not of a very severe nature’.

He regularly visited Stonyhurst and the college decided to commission a portrait of him by Thomas Baines. In 1929 he attended the House of Lords VC celebrations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.