Ferdinand Maurice Felix West

HE FOUGHT SEVEN ENEMY AIRCRAFT AND FLEW HOME DESPITE WOUNDS.

Air Commodore Ferdinand Maurice Felix West (1896–1988), known as Freddie West, was a British aviator whose Victoria Cross action in the final months of the First World War made him the first Royal Air Force pilot to receive the award. Before the war he worked in banking, and enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1914. Commissioned into the Royal Munster Fusiliers in 1915, he reached France that November and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 before training as a pilot. By 1918 he was serving with No. 8 Squadron, flying the two-seat Armstrong Whitworth FK.8 reconnaissance aircraft with Lieutenant John Haslam as his observer. Their work took them over the Western Front to photograph enemy positions and report on troop movements, often under attack from German fighters and anti-aircraft fire.

On 10 August 1918, north-east of Roye, seven enemy aircraft attacked West and Haslam’s aircraft. An explosive bullet struck West’s left leg and nearly severed it; his disabled leg fell across the controls, threatening to send the aircraft out of control. Despite his wound, West lifted it clear and continued to fly. A second wound struck his other leg. He manoeuvred the aircraft so Haslam could use the Lewis gun, and the observer’s fire drove off the attackers. West then brought the damaged aircraft safely back to the British lines. Although severely injured, he insisted on making his operational report before receiving medical attention. The action demonstrated not only extraordinary courage under fire but also the flying skill needed to keep a badly wounded pilot and his observer alive over enemy territory.

West received the Victoria Cross for this action. His left leg was later amputated, but he returned to service and continued a long RAF career. During the Second World War he served as air attaché in Rome and later helped Allied personnel escape from occupied Europe through Switzerland. He retired in 1946 with the rank of Air Commodore and joined the J. Arthur Rank film business. He became managing director in 1947, later chaired Lancia Concessionaires, and served on the VC and GC Association committee from 1956 until his death in 1988. His career links the fragile reconnaissance aircraft of 1918 with the expanding professional air force of the next generation.

The Victoria Cross citation records that, despite serious wounds and an aircraft under attack by seven enemy machines, West recovered control, enabled his observer to engage the enemy, brought the aircraft home and completed his report before seeking treatment. The citation appeared in the London Gazette, Supplement, 8 November 1918.

Sources: VC and GC Association, “Ferdinand Maurice Felix West”; Royal Air Force, “First RAF pilot to receive the Victoria Cross”; Royal Air Force Museum, “For Valour: Lieutenant (Acting Captain) Ferdinand Maurice Felix West VC, MC RAF”; The London Gazette, Supplement, 8 November 1918, Victoria Cross citation for Ferdinand Maurice Felix West.