Mick Mannock

Edward Corringham "Mick" Mannock VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC & Bar (24 May 1887 – 26 July 1918) was a British flying ace in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Mannock was born in Ireland, where his father -- a British Army corporal was stationed -- and was of English and Scottish parentage.

Mannock went into combat on the Western Front on three separate combat tours. After a troubled start in his first assignment to No. 40 Squadron, he began to accumulate victories. He took on the highly hazardous task of balloon busting for his first aerial victory, and by dogged concentration on his gunnery skills, tallied 15 victories by the end of his first combat tour.

After two months back in England, he returned to France as a Flight Commander in the fledgling No. 74 Squadron. He amassed 36 more victories between 12 April and 17 June 1918. He also gained a reputation for ruthless hatred of his German adversaries, delighting in seeing them burn to death. He became phobic about burning to death himself in midair. The stresses of combat began to tell on him, and he also became ill with a lingering case of influenza. When ordered home on leave in June, he wept.