| Accession Number | P03974.001 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Print silver gelatin |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Date made | c 1917 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Portrait of Lieutenant John Classon Courtney of Manly, NSW (originally of Auckland, New Zealand). ...
Description
Portrait of Lieutenant John Classon Courtney of Manly, NSW (originally of Auckland, New Zealand). He enlisted on 3 July 1916 in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC). He embarked from Melbourne, Vic on 17 January 1917 as a Temporary Flight Sergeant on B Flight of the AFC. He undertook some further flying instruction on his arrival in England, following which he was appointed a Second Lieutenant with 4 Squadron AFC on 17 November 1917, prior to the squadron's departure for France. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 17 January 1918. On 7 April 1918, while leading a formation of aircraft on a bombing raid over the La Bassee-Lille road, his aircraft went into a vertical dive, burst into flames and crashed after being hit by a gun firing a 'flaming onion' shell. On 25 May a German airman dropped a message in Allied lines that Lt John Classon Courtney had been killed. He was aged 24.