Flying the “Fighting Experimental Machine”
Royal Flying Corps Flight Commander Reg Kingsford of Nelson, New Zealand describes the third aircraft he learnt to fly during World War I, as the “Fighting Experimental machine.” Officially, it was the Royal Air Factory F.E.2b, the Farman Experimental 2 biplane (two-seater), in which he took a fellow Kiwi for a joyride.
Year:1917-18 (Recorded 1962)
Location:France
Flying the “Fighting Experimental Machine”
Royal Flying Corps Flight Commander Reg Kingsford of Nelson, New Zealand describes the third aircraft he learnt to fly during World War I, as the “Fighting Experimental machine.” Officially, it was the Royal Air Factory F.E.2b, the Farman Experimental 2 biplane (two-seater), in which he took a fellow Kiwi for a joyride.
Year: 1917-18 (Recorded 1962)
Length: 5:55
Production Company: Radio New Zealand
Source: Radio New Zealand collection, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Catalogue Reference: 151038 [World War I veteran, Reg Kingsford, talks about his service with the Royal Flying Corps]
People: Flight Commander Reginald Kingsford
Location: France
Image Title: FE2b The Fighting Experimental machine
Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_FE2b_profile.jpg
Reginald Kingsford flew long-range night bombing missions with Independent Force, a precursor to the RAF Bomber Command. In this interview, he tells how after serving in the Army, he joined the Royal Flying Corps and trained before being posted to 100 Squadron at Ochey near Nancy, France. In this excerpt from a radio interview he recorded in 1962, he talks about the F.E.2b, a joyride and the terror of night-landings.
The following is an excerpt from a biography written by his daughter-in-law Margaret Kingsford featured on The Prow (historical and cultural stories from Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough).
“It was in Nelson that World War I broke out and Reg volunteered, enlisting in the Medical Corps in the 6th Reinforcements of the 2nd New Zealand Division, New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Having reached Egypt, Reg was on board the ill-fated Marquette troopship when it was torpedoed en route to support the Gallipoli campaign. It was not to be Reg's last brush with death at sea; he was also on board a ship that was sunk between England and France with the loss of 189 lives. Reg survived and arrived in France just in time for Christmas 1916 and served on the Western Front.
Around this time the call went out for 200 New Zealand volunteers to join the Royal Flying Corps. Britain was trying to build up an air arm to match Germany's and Reg and a friend decided to give it a go. In May 1917 they transferred from the NZEF to the British Army and into the RFC.
In January 1918, Reg was transferred to the 100 Squadron, the senior and best operational bombing squadron on the Western Front… Reg's posting finished in August 1918 and his log book showed he dropped 151 bombs weighing a total of 3.8 tons, and spent 142.5 hours flying in France with 100 Squadron.”