Arthur Courtney Boddam-Whetham

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Courtney Boddam-Whetton, D.S.O., Middle East H.Q., Royal Air Force, was killed in a flying accident (in Bristol Fighter C4728) on 22nd June 1919. He is buried in Ramleh War Cemetery.“The cause of the accident was in our opinion due to the machine side-slipping & going into a spin through a misjudgement on the part of the pilot [1] in attempting too steep a turn near the ground.” [2][1] The pilot was Lieutenant John McFarlane Denholm Mills, A.F.C., 111 Squadron Royal Air Force, the 22 year-old son of David and Margaret Mills of Montego Bay, Jamaica. He is also buried in Ramleh War Cemetery. He was injured in a flying accident on 22nd October 1917 – cause unknown.[2] Royal Air Force casualty card.

“BODDAM-WHETHAM. – Killed on the 22nd June, 1919, in aeroplane accident in Egypt, Lieut.-Colonel A. C. Boddam-Whetham, D.S.O., 4th Battn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and R.A.F. of Earlscliffe, Folkestone, eldest son of the late J. W. Boddam-Whetham, late of Kirklington Hall, Notts., and Mrs. Boddam-Whetham, and husband of May Grace Boddam-Whetham, aged 35.” [3]The circumstances of the accident were reported later.“THE LATE COL. A. C. BODDAM-WHETHAM.“DETAILS OF THE FATALITY.“Details of the aeroplane accident in Palestine, which resulted in the death of Lieut.-Col. A. C. Boddam-Whetham, D.S.O.,4th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and Royal Air Force, of Earlscliffe, Folkestone, have now come to hand. “It appears that the gallant officer had been appointed at Damascus to take up the work of finding landing stations for the air route to India, and was starting upon his mission from Ramleh, Palestine. The machine on rising to the height of 1,000 feet, “missed” and the pilot made for the aerodrome to land, but at about 100 feet the machine seemed to sideslip to the ground. The pilot was killed and Colonel Boddam-Whettam never regained consciousness, dying before the hospital was reached. He was buried with full military honours in the military cemetery of Ramleh.“At the age of 17 deceased served in the South African War and in the Great War he saw service on many of fronts, viz., British East Africa, France, Egypt, and Palestine. He was in the last-named country when he received the D.S.O. He had been A.D.C. to Sir George Hunter at the time when he was Governor of South Australia and Trinidad. “Colonel Boddam-Whetham married in 1911, his cousin, May Grace Barton, daughter of the late Major Fleetwood Barton, but leaves no children.” [4]He was the 35 year-old son of John W. and Harriett Boddam-Whetham, of Kirklington Hall, Nottinghamshire, and Folkestone, Kent; husband of May Grace Boddam-Whetham, of 14 Abingdon Villas, Kensington, London.[3] 'Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal,' 18th July 1919. [4] 'Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald,' 2nd August 1919.The above research and all the information are courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918