This blog will be used to make better known the life of Thomas Cathcart Traill, my maternal grandfather. As a child I knew little about his career. This took him from an estancia in Argentina to the Royal Navy, on to the Royal Flying Corps and then to the Royal Air Force, where he rose to the rank of Air-Vice Marshal.
He wrote his memoirs in the early 1970s, shortly before he died. The manuscript remains unpublished and un-digitised. Various copies of the typescript exist, one of which is deposited in the Imperial War Museum. I had intended to transcribe the memoirs on to the blog, but I quickly realised that this is not the right medium for such a long piece of narrative. So I will restrict myself to posting excerpts.
For more information, particularly about his air force service record, see the Wikipedia entry.
Career
- 6 Aug 1899 – Born Chirú, Argentina
- 1912-1914 – Cadet, Royal Naval College, Osborne
- 1914 – Cadet, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
- 2 Aug 1914 – Midshipman, HMS Lord Nelson, Channel Squadron
- Feb 1915 – HMS Lord Nelson to Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, Gallipoli
- 1915-1916 – Gallipoli Campaign
- Winter 1916/17 – Transfer to Royal Flying Corps: Pilot Training
- ? – School of Military Aeronautics, Oxford
- 11 Oct 1917 – Commissioned as temporary 2nd Lieutenant, Netheravon
- 17 May 1918 – Posted to no.20 Squadron, Boisdingham, St. Omer
- 1 Apr 1918 – Promoted Lieutenant [Air Force List 01/04/1918]
- 28 Sept 1918 – Appointed Flight Commander & temporary Captain
- Nov 1918 – Reverted to substantive rank of Flying Officer
- Mar 1919- Mar 1920 – Assistant Air Attaché, British Embassy, Washington
- Apr-May 1919 – Victory Loan Flying Circus, Mid-Western Flight
- 18 May 1920 – Instrument Design Establishment, Biggin Hill
- 20 Jan 1922 – Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
- 1 Oct 1922 – St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge
- 15 Sept 1924 – Aircraft Engineering Course, Inland Area Aircraft Depot, Henlow
- 29 Sept 1925 – Appointed to Iraq Aircraft Depot, Hinaidi: Engine Repair Section
- 31 Mar 1928 – Flying Instructor, Cambridge University Air Squadron
- 19 Oct 1931 – no.58 Squadron, Worthy Down
- 8 Jan 1932 – Flight Commander, B Flight, 12 Squadron, Andover
- 10 Jan 1933 – RAF Staff College
- 8 Mar 1934 – Flying Instructor, no.4 Flying Training School, Abu Sueir, Egypt
- 1 Dec 1934 – Promoted Squadron Leader
- 16 Aug 1935 – Commanding Officer, no.14 Squadron, Amman
- 10 May 1938 – Commanding Officer, RAF Helwan, Egypt
- 1 Jul 1938 – Promoted to Wing Commander
- 26 Sept 1938 – Air Staff, HQ no.2 (Bomber) Command, Wyton
- 14 May 1940 – Assistant Senior Air Staff Officer, Wing Commander Operations, HQ Bomber Command
- 11 Jul 1940 – Awarded O.B.E.
- 1 Dec 1940 – Promoted to Group Captain
- Spring 1941 – Commanding Officer, 4 Group, RAF Middleton St. George
- Aug 1942 – Senior Air Staff Officer, HQ no.242 Group
tctraill 
Mr. Partridge,
I am a retired USAF officer writing a history of USAF air demonstration teams. I would like to use some of the material you have posted on Air-Vice Marshal Traill’s experiences with the Victory Loan Flying Circus. I would like to talk to you about permissions to use this material.
Thank you very much.
V/R
Gary Meeker, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)
Yes, please go ahead and use what you want. In return, I would be very interested in any further information you have on the MidWest path of the Victory Loan Flying Circus in 1919.
I am glad to have found this site (directed here from your recent post at the Great War Forum).
I notice that your chronology shows uncertainty as to when T. C. Traill was posted to No. 20 Squadron. There is a casualty form for him at the Royal Air Force Museum (https://www.casualtyforms.org/form/31482) that indicates he was posted to 20 Sqn on May 17, 1918.
There is apparently no R.A.F. officers service record for him (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/raf-officers-service-records-1918-1919/), which is a shame, as it might have included information on some of his training. Are you also familiar with the casualty cards at https://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/pages/raf_vault.php? where there are at least two cards related to him?
I am working on biographies of some American pilots who served with the RFC/RAF during WWI, including 3 who were at No. 20 at the same time as your grandfather. I hope you won’t mind if at some point I come back to you in case your grandfather’s memoir has information relevant to them.
With all good wishes,
—Marian
https://parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com/2OD/
https://parr-hooper.cmsmcq.com/2OD/the-biographies/clair-rutherford-oberst/ (Oberst was with No. 20 Sqn)
Thanks so much for the information. I hadn’t seen the Casualty Form, so getting his 20 Squadron posting date is very useful. I’m not familiar with the Casualty Cards either. In his memoirs he doesn’t give the date for his Maurice Farman crash while training, so that is valuable information – he was actually quite seriously injured.
I’ve checked for mentions of your names:
1. Nothing on Oberst. But incidentally Gordon Bennett became my grandfather’s observer/gunner after Oberst was transferred.
On your Oberst web page you have George Herbert Zellers. A Zellers rates a couple of short mentions in the memoirs. With a surname like that I would think it is 99% likely to be him.
2. There is a Hooper in Traill’s logbook for actions on 24 & 28 Sept 1918. He says he was a Flight Commander. Could this be the same person as your great uncle?
Regards
Crispin Partridge