Burke's military service in the British Army began when he commissioned as a soldier in the 3rd (Militia) battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, where he was promoted lieutenant on 24 October 1900.[5] He saw active service with the battalion in the Second Boer War, for which he received the Queen's medal with two clasps.[4] Following the end of the war in June 1902, he returned to the United Kingdom with the battalion on the SS Cestrian, which arrived in Southampton in October,[6] and later the same year was commissioned into the regular army as a second-lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment. After several years of regimental service, including three years with the West African Frontier Force,[4] he was promoted to captain in September 1909. The following year Burke travelled to France where he learned to fly in a Farman biplane, gaining his Aéro-Club de France certificate in the process.[7]
After his return to England, Burke was employed at the Army's Balloon School.[7][8] In early 1911, Burke was involved in conducting heavier-than-air aircraft tests at the Balloon Factory. On 7 January 1911 Burke flew a Farman aircraft for two miles over Laffan's Plain at 50 to 80 feet and landed near the Balloon Factory. A few minutes later, Burke attempted a second flight. However, after only 50 yards he stalled and the aircraft came to earth on its right wing, cart-wheeled and disintegrated. Burke received injuries in the crash.[9] Despite this experience, Burke was not deterred from flying. In July of the same year, he flew from Salisbury Plain to Aldershot and back and later on he made a return flight to Oxford.[10]
Burke was also one of the earliest British Army officers to consider air power in depth. In 1911, whilst serving as a captain in the Air Battalion, Burke wrote the first air power article to be published in the Royal United Services Institute Journal. In his article Burke compared the reconnaissance activities of cavalry to those of aircraft and observed that just as opposing cavalry might be drawn into battle, so could aircraft.[11]
When training pilots, no machine should go out without knowing what it is to do, do it and it alone, then land.
When on the ground, everyone overrates their capacity for airwork.
No young pilot should be allowed out in "bumps" until he has done 15 hours piloting.
An aeroplane will live in the wind and a lifeboat in any sea, but they both want good and experienced men at the tiller.
Each smash means a certain amount of loss of the valuable assets: dash and keenness, though varying with individuals, the supply has its limits.
A pilot whose muscles are rigid when flying should do one of two things: (a) unstiffen (b) give up flying.
Napoleon said that in war the mental is to the physical as three to one. If he had known aviation, he would have put a nought after the three.
If the occupant of the passenger seat has no confidence in the pilot, there is probability of trouble. If it is the pilot who lacks confidence, the probability becomes a certainty.
In aviation, because a thing has been done without accident ten times is no guarantee that there will not be an accident on the eleventh.
The qualities mostly required by a pilot: confidence; by an observer: truth; by a rigger: reliability; and the first two are largely based on the last.
"Rumour is a lying jade". Aviation is full of rumours.
No pilots or anyone put over them will do any good if they listen to remarks actuated by jealousy.
Flying creates flying. If you see others up, the weather cannot be so bad as you imagined it was.
Divide pilots into classes. The weather will be fit for all of a class or none.
The amount of flying done does not depend on the weather but on the arrangements made to avail oneself of good weather.
Sufficient arrangements are seldom if ever made.
Aviation like arsenic can only be taken in small doses at first.
When things are going well, the man in charge can give play to his fears.
Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems.
Waiting about on an aerodrome has spoilt more pilots than everything else put together.
Strain can reduce the best of pilots by stages until it is just as dangerous for them to fly a machine as it is for a beginner.
Everyone who takes up flying becomes converted from disbelief into enthusiasm. Shortly after his conversion he may, or may not, kill himself.
Never regret having given a beginner too little flying at first, but always remember the time lost by want of arrangement.
If in doubt whether you should let beginners go up "Don‘t".
A military flier is only becoming really valuable after six months, which is about the time that a civilian flier lasts a star performer.
In aviation, all goes completely wrong or completely well. Neither should affect the man in charge as to what he intended to do.
If you know what you want, you can do your portion and get others to do theirs. Most people don't know what they want.
A Squadron Commander should want a good Squadron, and not be able to break records.
Burke in the cockpit of pre-World War I a pusher biplane.
On 13 May 1912, Burke became the commanding officer of the Flying Corps' No. 2 Squadron and was promoted to major.[13] During the next two years, Burke trained his squadron in aerial reconnaissance.[14] In September 1912, Burke took part in the Army Manoeuvres. Burke was responsible for the control of nine aircraft under the direction of Major Frederick Sykes.[15]
On 13 February 1913, five aircraft of No. 2 Squadron took off from RAE Farnborough and in a series of stages over the next 13 days flew 450 miles (720 km) north. The aircraft landed at Upper Dysart Farm on 26 February, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland establishing the first operational military airbase in the United Kingdom.[16]
First World War
Burke (as a brevet major) was mentioned in Sir John French's despatch on 8 October 1914. The following month, on 29 November 1914, Burke was appointed the first commanding officer of No. 2 Wing of the Royal Flying Corps and he set up his headquarters at Saint-Omer. His wing comprised Nos 5 and 6 Squadrons.[17] In 1915 Burke was involved in recruiting for the Royal Flying Corps in Canada. As well as directly recruiting personnel, Burke suggested that training aerodromes might be established in Canada under British control.[18] From February[19] to June 1916,[20] Burke served as the Commandant of the Central Flying School.[21]
In the summer of 1916 Burke rejoined his old regiment, the Royal Irish Regiment, which was suffering a severe shortage of officers. Burke was killed in action on 9 April 1917,[22] whilst commanding the 1st Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. It was the first day of the Battle of Arras and he was visiting the right, front post of B Company when it was hit by a shell. Both Burke and his orderly, Lance Corporal R Pentland were killed. Burke is buried at the Point-du-Jour Military Cemetery, Athies, France in Plot: III. C. 2. His orderly is buried next to him.[23][24]
Lieutenant-Colonel Burke DSO is remembered on the Men of Thomond Memorial at St Mary's Cathedral (Church of Ireland), Limerick City, Ireland.[25]
References
^Van der Spuy, Kenneth Reid (1966). Chasing the Wind. Books of Africa. p. 55.
^"The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36875. London. 17 September 1902. p. 5.
^ abRaleigh, Sir Walter Alexander; Jones, Henry Albert (1922). The war in the air; being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force. Oxford Clarendon Press. pp. 251 to 252.
^. II(AC) Sqn Association Web Site. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
^ Jenkins, Garry (2000). Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral. New York: Picador USA. ISBN978-0-312-24180-3.
^ Turner, Charles Cyril (1972) [1927]. "Government and Flying". The Old Flying Days. Ayer Publishing. p. 297. ISBN978-0-405-03783-2.
^ Mason, Tony (2000). "Rethinking the Conceptual Framework". In Peter W Gray (ed.). Air Power 21 – Challenges for the New Century. The Stationery Office. p. 229. ISBN978-0-11-772960-5.
^Heide, Rachel Lea (2 November 2002). . Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
^. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
^"Royal Flying Corps" (PDF). Supplement to the London Gazette: 7324. 24 July 1916.
^ Barrass, Malcolm (25 September 2007). . Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
^"Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Burke | War Casualty Details". CWGC.
charles, burke, british, army, officer, lieutenant, colonel, charles, james, burke, march, 1882, april, 1917, officer, royal, irish, regiment, royal, flying, corps, military, aviation, pioneer, both, first, commander, squadron, later, second, wing, charles, bu. Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Burke 2 DSO 9 March 1882 9 April 1917 was an officer in the Royal Irish Regiment 3 and the Royal Flying Corps and a military aviation pioneer He was both the first commander of No 2 Squadron and later the Second Wing Charles BurkeBurke in the uniform of the Royal Flying CorpsNickname s Pregnant Percy 1 Born 1882 03 09 9 March 1882Armagh IrelandDied9 April 1917 1917 04 09 aged 35 Near Arras FranceAllegianceUnited KingdomService wbr branchBritish ArmyRankLieutenant ColonelUnitRoyal Irish RegimentRoyal Flying CorpsCommands heldSecond WingNo 2 Squadron RFCBattles warsSecond Boer WarFirst World WarAwardsDistinguished Service OrderCharles Burke was the youngest son of Michael Charles Christopher Burke of Ballinhone House Armagh Ireland 4 Contents 1 Military career 2 First World War 3 References 4 External linksMilitary career EditBurke s military service in the British Army began when he commissioned as a soldier in the 3rd Militia battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers where he was promoted lieutenant on 24 October 1900 5 He saw active service with the battalion in the Second Boer War for which he received the Queen s medal with two clasps 4 Following the end of the war in June 1902 he returned to the United Kingdom with the battalion on the SS Cestrian which arrived in Southampton in October 6 and later the same year was commissioned into the regular army as a second lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment After several years of regimental service including three years with the West African Frontier Force 4 he was promoted to captain in September 1909 The following year Burke travelled to France where he learned to fly in a Farman biplane gaining his Aero Club de France certificate in the process 7 After his return to England Burke was employed at the Army s Balloon School 7 8 In early 1911 Burke was involved in conducting heavier than air aircraft tests at the Balloon Factory On 7 January 1911 Burke flew a Farman aircraft for two miles over Laffan s Plain at 50 to 80 feet and landed near the Balloon Factory A few minutes later Burke attempted a second flight However after only 50 yards he stalled and the aircraft came to earth on its right wing cart wheeled and disintegrated Burke received injuries in the crash 9 Despite this experience Burke was not deterred from flying In July of the same year he flew from Salisbury Plain to Aldershot and back and later on he made a return flight to Oxford 10 Burke was also one of the earliest British Army officers to consider air power in depth In 1911 whilst serving as a captain in the Air Battalion Burke wrote the first air power article to be published in the Royal United Services Institute Journal In his article Burke compared the reconnaissance activities of cavalry to those of aircraft and observed that just as opposing cavalry might be drawn into battle so could aircraft 11 In 1912 Burke wrote his 29 maxims for flying 12 Time in the air will alone make a pilot When training pilots no machine should go out without knowing what it is to do do it and it alone then land When on the ground everyone overrates their capacity for airwork No young pilot should be allowed out in bumps until he has done 15 hours piloting An aeroplane will live in the wind and a lifeboat in any sea but they both want good and experienced men at the tiller Each smash means a certain amount of loss of the valuable assets dash and keenness though varying with individuals the supply has its limits A pilot whose muscles are rigid when flying should do one of two things a unstiffen b give up flying Napoleon said that in war the mental is to the physical as three to one If he had known aviation he would have put a nought after the three If the occupant of the passenger seat has no confidence in the pilot there is probability of trouble If it is the pilot who lacks confidence the probability becomes a certainty In aviation because a thing has been done without accident ten times is no guarantee that there will not be an accident on the eleventh The qualities mostly required by a pilot confidence by an observer truth by a rigger reliability and the first two are largely based on the last Rumour is a lying jade Aviation is full of rumours No pilots or anyone put over them will do any good if they listen to remarks actuated by jealousy Flying creates flying If you see others up the weather cannot be so bad as you imagined it was Divide pilots into classes The weather will be fit for all of a class or none The amount of flying done does not depend on the weather but on the arrangements made to avail oneself of good weather Sufficient arrangements are seldom if ever made Aviation like arsenic can only be taken in small doses at first When things are going well the man in charge can give play to his fears Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems Waiting about on an aerodrome has spoilt more pilots than everything else put together Strain can reduce the best of pilots by stages until it is just as dangerous for them to fly a machine as it is for a beginner Everyone who takes up flying becomes converted from disbelief into enthusiasm Shortly after his conversion he may or may not kill himself Never regret having given a beginner too little flying at first but always remember the time lost by want of arrangement If in doubt whether you should let beginners go up Don t A military flier is only becoming really valuable after six months which is about the time that a civilian flier lasts a star performer In aviation all goes completely wrong or completely well Neither should affect the man in charge as to what he intended to do If you know what you want you can do your portion and get others to do theirs Most people don t know what they want A Squadron Commander should want a good Squadron and not be able to break records Burke in the cockpit of pre World War I a pusher biplane On 13 May 1912 Burke became the commanding officer of the Flying Corps No 2 Squadron and was promoted to major 13 During the next two years Burke trained his squadron in aerial reconnaissance 14 In September 1912 Burke took part in the Army Manoeuvres Burke was responsible for the control of nine aircraft under the direction of Major Frederick Sykes 15 On 13 February 1913 five aircraft of No 2 Squadron took off from RAE Farnborough and in a series of stages over the next 13 days flew 450 miles 720 km north The aircraft landed at Upper Dysart Farm on 26 February 3 miles 4 8 km south of Montrose Forfarshire Scotland establishing the first operational military airbase in the United Kingdom 16 First World War EditBurke as a brevet major was mentioned in Sir John French s despatch on 8 October 1914 The following month on 29 November 1914 Burke was appointed the first commanding officer of No 2 Wing of the Royal Flying Corps and he set up his headquarters at Saint Omer His wing comprised Nos 5 and 6 Squadrons 17 In 1915 Burke was involved in recruiting for the Royal Flying Corps in Canada As well as directly recruiting personnel Burke suggested that training aerodromes might be established in Canada under British control 18 From February 19 to June 1916 20 Burke served as the Commandant of the Central Flying School 21 In the summer of 1916 Burke rejoined his old regiment the Royal Irish Regiment which was suffering a severe shortage of officers Burke was killed in action on 9 April 1917 22 whilst commanding the 1st Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment It was the first day of the Battle of Arras and he was visiting the right front post of B Company when it was hit by a shell Both Burke and his orderly Lance Corporal R Pentland were killed Burke is buried at the Point du Jour Military Cemetery Athies France in Plot III C 2 His orderly is buried next to him 23 24 Lieutenant Colonel Burke DSO is remembered on the Men of Thomond Memorial at St Mary s Cathedral Church of Ireland Limerick City Ireland 25 References Edit Van der Spuy Kenneth Reid 1966 Chasing the Wind Books of Africa p 55 Haffenden John 2005 A horrid little boy airing my views William Empson Among the Mandarins Oxford University Press pp 41 ISBN 978 0 19 927659 2 burke royal flying corps Om Royal Flying Corps i 1914 Del 2 Chakoten Dansk Militaerhistorisk Selskab in Danish Archived from the original on 20 January 2005 Retrieved 10 November 2007 a b c Personals Flight IX 16 375 19 April 1917 Retrieved 5 January 2009 Hart s Army list 1903 The Army in South Africa Troops returning home The Times No 36875 London 17 September 1902 p 5 a b Raleigh Sir Walter Alexander Jones Henry Albert 1922 The war in the air being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force Oxford Clarendon Press pp 251 to 252 May 1912 Major G J Burke II AC Sqn Association Web Site Archived from the original on 1 August 2015 Retrieved 14 August 2008 Jenkins Garry 2000 Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral New York Picador USA ISBN 978 0 312 24180 3 Turner Charles Cyril 1972 1927 Government and Flying The Old Flying Days Ayer Publishing p 297 ISBN 978 0 405 03783 2 Mason Tony 2000 Rethinking the Conceptual Framework In Peter W Gray ed Air Power 21 Challenges for the New Century The Stationery Office p 229 ISBN 978 0 11 772960 5 Burke Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre No 28627 The London Gazette 16 July 1912 p 5182 II AC Squadron History WWI Royal Air Force web site Royal Air Force 2006 Retrieved 10 November 2007 British Notes of the Week Air Work at the Army Manoeuvres Flight IV 35 802 31 August 1912 Retrieved 10 November 2007 Montrose air station the UK s first airbase marks centenary BBC News 23 February 2013 Retrieved 23 February 2013 Dye Peter 15 September 2003 British Air Services Memorial St Omer RAF Personnel and Training Command website Retrieved 10 November 2007 permanent dead link Heide Rachel Lea 2 November 2002 The Struggle to Define and Integrate Alliance Commitments and National Sovereignty in Canada Lessons from Air Training Plan Negotiations in the First and Second World Wars Archived from the original on 23 February 2005 Retrieved 11 November 2007 Flight Archive 17 February 1916 Archived from the original on 6 March 2016 Retrieved 5 July 2015 Royal Flying Corps PDF Supplement to the London Gazette 7324 24 July 1916 Barrass Malcolm 25 September 2007 Other Establishments Flying Schools and Colleges Air of Authority A History of RAF Organisation Archived from the original on 20 June 2012 Retrieved 11 October 2007 Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Burke War Casualty Details CWGC Casualty Details O Connor Mike 2004 Airfields amp Airmen Arras Pen and Sword Books Ltd ISBN 9781844151257 War Memorial Men of Thomond Memorial in Limerick St Mary s Cathedral Limerick City Irish War Memorials Retrieved 25 March 2022 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Burke British Army officer II AC Sqn Association Major Burke archived Early Aviators Charles James BurkeMilitary officesNew titlePost created Officer Commanding No 2 Squadron13 May 1912 10 November 1914 Succeeded byGeorge William Patrick DawesNew titleWing established Officer Commanding 2nd Wing29 November 1914 August 1915 Succeeded byJohn SalmondPreceded byDuncan Pitcher Commandant of the Central Flying School1 February 18 June 1916 Succeeded byArchibald MacLean Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles Burke British Army officer amp oldid 1106073872, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
