Fly Past

April 2018 FLYPAST 61

98 SQUADRON 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

Above left

DH.9 C6067 of 98

Squadron during the

weeks before it left

for France on April 1,

1918. C HUSTON

Left

A DH.9 fi tted with

a single rack under

the fuselage for a

230lb bomb. AUTHOR’S

COLLECTION

Below left

The RAF’s fi rst Battle

Honour of ‘Lys’,

proudly carried on

the Standard of 98

Squadron. AUTHOR

Far left

Despite the

unreliability of its

engines, DH.9s

remained in use with

the RAF until mid-

1920. Through the
      winter of 1918-1919,
      several units turned
      their machines into
      mail and document
      couriers during
      the occupation and
      Versailles Treaty
      summit. The aircraft
      in the foreground,
      Heaton Chapel-built
      D1197 carries ‘Aircraft
      Transport and Travel
      Ltd’ titling under the
      cockpit. This short-
      lived pioneer airline
      began cross-Channel
      services in the
      summer of 1919. KEY

tested the guns and fittings
on the DH.9s. An attack
in Flanders was anticipated
as air reconnaissance reported
significantly increased rail movement
as troops transferred north from the
Somme.

INTO ACTION
At dawn on April 9, a massive
bombardment, including mustard
gas shells, presaged the German
offensive that struck along La Bassée
Canal. In misty, rainy conditions that
hampered air operations, German
‘Sturmtruppen’ (storm troopers) –

many combat-hardened and rushed

back from the collapsed Eastern Front

• swept aside a section of line held by
  Portuguese troops. The River Lys was
  reached by early afternoon.
  Sorties to counter this huge threat to
  the Allied position began immediately.
  It was the first battle to open since the
  formation of the RAF.
  Poor weather initially prevented
  any flying for 98’s crews and, on the
  10th, the German Fourth Army broke
  through and threatened Armentières.
  RAF operations concentrated on the
  crossings in the Lys valley, in which
  three bridges received direct hits
  and troop concentrations around La
  Bassée were attacked.
  When the weather lifted at
  lunchtime, 98 Squadron was readied
  for its first raid. Fifteen DH.9s took
  off at 1500 hrs. On take-off, C6081
  flown by 2nd Lts C G Tysoe and N C
  MacDonald hit the slipstream of an
  aircraft ahead of it and crashed.
  The remainder climbed to 14,000ft
  (4,267m), bound for Wervicq. Two
  DH.9s returned early with engine
  trouble, but the others dropped
  two-dozen 112lb (50kg) bombs
  successfully.
  A pilot with ‘C’ Flight, 2nd Lt Cecil
  Whyte, flying with 2nd Lt Richard

Lys was the fi rst battle to have started after April 1, 1918, and therefore it was the

newly formed Royal Air Force that participated. Qualifi cation for the Battle Honour was

defi ned as: “For squadrons participating in operations in support of the Allied offensive

against the German Armed Forces during the Battle of Lys, April 9-29, 1918.’

The following units received the Battle Honour ‘Lys’, although only 98 and 210

Squadrons chose to carry it on their Standards: 1, 2, 4, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29, 35, 40, 41,

42, 43, 64, 73, 80, 98, 101, 203, 206, 208 and 210.

FIRST BATTLE HONOUR

many combat-hardened and rushed

back from the collapsed Eastern Front

tested the guns and fittings
on the DH.9s. An attack
in Flanders was anticipated
as air reconnaissance reported
significantly increased rail movement
as troops transferred north from the