The Perilous Life of a World War I Pilot

Colin Graham Sutherland Shields: 1898-1918

With the approach of Memorial Day, our thoughts turn to the brave men and women who have served their countries in the military. Colin Graham Sutherland Shields was one of those brave men, serving in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force in World War I. He gave his life for king and country, dying before his twentieth birthday.

Colin G. S. Shields was born in August 26, 1898 to Thomas Shields and Hilda Finch Paine Shields, the first of their three children. Colin was christened on September 18, 1898 at Old Windsor Parish Church in Berkshire, the same church where his parents were married a year earlier.

Old Windsor Parish Church, Berkshire

Colin’s father Thomas was a physics and engineering instructor at a military college in Egham, so Colin spent his childhood in Surrey. He attended a boarding preparatory school (typical for upper class British boys) called Sunningdale School in Berkshire, where he appears on the 1911 census at age 12. Sunningdale only offered instruction through age 13, so he finished his secondary education at another prestigious prep school, Repton School in Derbyshire, which we know from his military records, seen below.

Repton School today....

With the outbreak of World War I, Colin enlisted as soon as possible. Military records give an enlistment date of May 3, 1915—rather shocking as he was only sixteen at the time and still at Repton. I suspect he wasn’t inducted until at least 1916. He apparently did officer training and air corps training at a facility in Reading that was attached to the 39 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. According to the Squadron’s website, the unit was formed in 1916 and flew the B.E.2 aircraft, which were single-engine two-seat biplanes. Presumably Colin’s training included flight training. He achieved the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant with the RFC.

BE-2 aircraft, WWI

The Royal Flying Corps was merged with the Royal Navy’s air corps in 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. Colin was transferred to this new department and was promoted to Lieutenant on April 1, 1918. According to Ruth Shields MacNiven, his cousin, he had only been deployed as an RAF pilot for three weeks when his plane went down in France on May 10, 1918. He was killed in the crash just four months shy of his twentieth birthday.

Ruth told John and Laurel Aird that “rackety planes” and inadequate training contributed to the crash. A notation on his service record includes the word “Camel” which leads me to believe he was flying a Sopwith Camel when he crashed. The Camels were fairly reliable, so perhaps Ruth just meant they were “rackety” in comparison to modern aircraft.

Sopwith Camel in flight--WWI

She may have had a point regarding the adequacy of his training—if he was used to flying the B.E.2 planes in the 39 Squadron, and was only transferred to the new RAF in April of 1918, he may have only had one month’s training in the new Sopwith aircraft before his crash. The Sopwith Camels were single-seaters, so he didn’t have another pilot with him as he flew over France on that May mission.

The “Movements” record from the National Archives indicates he was both reported missing and then dead on the same day, May 10, 1918, which leads me to believe another member of his squadron witnessed the crash and knew there was no hope of survival. At least his family had a definitive answer as to his fate. However, that was probably cold comfort. Ruth told John and Laurel that Colin’s mother Hilda never got over his death; he was Thomas and Hilda’s only son. As a prep school graduate, he probably planned to follow his father into higher education, either at Oxford or Cambridge, or his father’s alma mater, the University of Glasglow. He had a promising future that was tragically cut short. His sister Hilda named her only son Colin in his honor.

Colin G. S. Shields was buried in the Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery in Somme, France, pictured below, a lovely setting for the remains of a brave young man.