While we’ve brought you many stories of brave local troops fighting in the First World War, this one is a little different in that it involves a pilot: Salford man Joseph Prestwich, 23, who served in the Royal Flying Corp.
The Royal Flying Corp was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War, until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force.
Joseph Prestwich had strong connections with the Eccles area.
His father also called Joseph Prestwich was living at Elm Bank, 172 Eccles Old Road, and was Managing Director at The Protector Lamp and Lighting Company based in Monton who produced amongst other things, the Protector Safety Lamp which was used by virtually every miner in the country.
Young Joseph was educated at Manchester Grammar School and worked at the company for a while after finishing his education.
The army life must have appealed to him because he became a Second Lieutenant in the 42nd East Lancashire Regiment in March 1913 and was then called up when mobillisation began in August 1914 and was soon in action fighting at Gallipoli.
Whilst there he was promoted to First Lieutenant along with a Captain Gillibrand who lived at Folly Lane, Swinton, who history records suffered several injuries but unlike his mate survived the war.
Joseph returned from Gallipoli and was transferred to the Royal Flying Corp at Farnham where he quickly obtained his pilot’s “wings”.
He quickly developed a reputation as a fearless flier and at Christmas 1915 was sent to France, he was reported as winning the squadrons race across the Channel.
Once settled in he was quickly in aerial combat above the skies of France taking part in combat with German aeroplanes including action against the much superior German Fokker Eindecker bi-plane as flown by the legendary Red Baron, Captain Manfred Freherrn Von Richthofen.
At the end of 1916, the battle entered its most deadly phase – the Red Baron and German squadrons making mincemeat of the old-fashioned British planes, nicknaming them ‘Kaltes Fleisch’ (cold meat) and reducing an RFC pilot’s average life to just 18 hours in the air.
His parents received a letter from him on Tuesday 2 February in which he stated that they should look out for some good news in the papers as they were going to make an attack on the enemy lines and make a break-through which would be a major victory.
Sadly his prediction wasn’t to come true, his family received a telegraph later that week saying that their son had received severe injuries and he would die from his wounds on 7th February.
By the end of the Somme offensive in November 1916, the Royal Flying Corp had lost 800 aircraft and 252 aircrew were killed, and young Joseph Prestwich was sadly just one man in those shocking statistics.
Joseph was buried at the Poperinghe New Military Cememtery in Belgium.
His name is also recorded on memorials at St James Church, Hope and Eccles Parish Church, Eccles along with that of so many young men who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
