Jump to content

Joseph Cruess Callaghan: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Disambiguating links to Major (link changed to Major (rank)) using DisamAssist.
(48 intermediate revisions by 25 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox military person
| name =Joseph Creuss Callaghan alias Joseph Cruess Callaghan
| name = Joseph Cruess Callaghan
| image =
| image =
| caption =
| caption =
⚫
| nickname = "The Mad Major"
| born = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->4 March 1893
| died = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->2 July 1918
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1893|3|4}}
| birth_place = [[Dún Laoghaire|Kingstown]], Ireland
⚫
| placeofburial_label =[[Contay British Cemetery]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1918|7|2|1893|3|4}}
| placeofburial = [[Contay]], [[France]]
| death_place =
| placeofbirth =Kingstown
⚫
| placeofburial = Contay British Cemetery, [[Contay]], France
| placeofdeath =
⚫
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| branch = [[British Army]]<br/>[[Royal Air Force]]
⚫
| nickname =The Mad Major
⚫
| serviceyears = 1915–1918
⚫
| allegiance =United Kingdom
| branch =Infantry; aviation
| rank = [[Major (rank)|Major]]
⚫
| unit = [[Royal Munster Fusiliers]]<br/>[[No. 18 Squadron RAF|No. 18 Squadron RFC]]
⚫
| serviceyears =ca 1915 – 1918
⚫
| commands = [[No. 87 Squadron RAF]]<br/>No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery
| rank =Major
| battles = [[First World War]]
⚫
| unit =[[Royal Munster Fusiliers]], [[No. 18 Squadron RAF|No. 18 Squadron RFC]]
* [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
⚫
| commands = [[No. 87 Squadron RAF]]
| battles =
| awards = [[Military Cross]]
| awards =[[Military Cross]]
| relations = [[Carmencita Hederman]] (niece)
| relations =
| laterwork =
| laterwork =
}}
}}
Major '''Joseph Creuss Callaghan''' was a World War I [[flying ace]] credited with five aerial victories.<ref>http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/ireland/callaghan.php Retrieved 4 February 2010.</ref>
'''Joseph Cruess Callaghan''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|MC}} (4 March 1893 – 2 July 1918) was an Irish [[flying ace]] of the [[First World War]], credited with [[List of World War I aces credited with 5 victories|five aerial victories]].<ref name="theaerodrome">{{cite web |url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/ireland/callaghan.php |title=Joseph Cruess Callaghan |work=The Aerodrome |year=2016 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>


==Early life and background==
The Irish-born Callaghan was living in Texas when World War I began; he returned home to join the [[Royal Munster Fusiliers]]. He transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 1 September 1915. He was assigned to No. 18 Squadron in April 1916;<ref>{{cite book |title= Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 |page= 94 }}</ref> he promptly piloted an [[FE.2b]] to victory on the 26th, getting credit for destroying a [[Fokker Eindekker]] (though the Germans recorded no casualties). He crashlanded near [[Château de la Haie]] because of damaged controls, to discover his observer dead, shot through the head.<ref>{{cite book |title= ''Pusher Aces of World War 1'' |page= 26 - 27 }}</ref>
Joseph Cruess Callaghan was the eldest of six children of Joseph Patrick Callaghan (of [[Blackrock, Dublin]]) and Croasdella Elizabeth Mary (née Bolger; daughter of James Bolger and Croasdella Elizabeth Cruess); he was educated at Jesuit schools such as [[Belvedere College]] (Dublin) and [[Stonyhurst College]] (Lancashire, England).<ref name="Tablet-Obit">{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/3rd-august-1918/16/et-cietera|title=Etc.|page=16|newspaper=[[The Tablet]]|date=3 August 1918|access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>


==First World War==
His next posting was to No. 2 School of Aerial Gunnery. His final posting was command of No. 87 Squadron in January 1918. He scored four more victories in a month, between 29 May and 28 June 1918, flying [[Sopwith Dolphin]] No. D3671. On 2 July, he launched a solo attack on a large formation of German fighters,<ref>{{cite book |title= Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 |page= 94 }}</ref> estimated to number as many as 25.<ref>http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/ireland/callaghan.php Retrieved 4 February 2010.</ref> He was shot down in flames by German ace Leutnant [[Franz Büchner]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 |page= 94 }}</ref>
Callaghan was living in [[Texas]] when the [[First World War]] broke out; he returned home to be commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the 7th (Service) Battalion, [[Royal Munster Fusiliers (New Army)|Royal Munster Fusiliers]] in January 1915.<ref name="Tablet-Obit"/> He transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 1 September,{{sfnp|Shores|Franks|Guest|1990|p=94}} and trained as a pilot, being granted Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No. 1829 on 4 October, after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military School, Norwich,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1915/1915%20-%200783.html |title=Aviators Certificates |issue=355 |volume=VII |page=783 |magazine=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=15 October 1915 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref> and was appointed a flying officer on 25 January 1916.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=8 February 1916 |supp=y |issue=29467 |page=1489 |nolink=yes}}</ref>
==Honors and awards==
[[Military Cross]] (MC)


Callaghan was assigned to [[No. 18 Squadron RAF|No. 18 Squadron RFC]] in April 1916;{{sfnp|Shores|Franks|Guest|1990|p=94}} He piloted an [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2|F.E.2b]] to victory on 26 April, getting credit for destroying a [[Fokker Eindecker]] (though the Germans recorded no casualties). He crash-landed near [[Château de la Haie]] because of damaged controls, to discover his observer dead, shot through the head.{{sfnp|Guttman|Dempsey|2009|pp=26–27}} He was wounded in action on 31 July.<ref name="theaerodrome"/>
2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) Joseph Cruess Callaghan, R. Muns. Fus. and R.F.C.


Callaghan was appointed a [[flight commander]] with the temporary rank of captain and, 4 November 1916, was transferred to the Regular Army.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=3 November 1916 |supp=y |issue=29812 |page=10643 |nolink=yes}}</ref> From January 1917 he served as Commandant of No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery, [[RAF Turnberry|Turnberry]], with the temporary rank of major (graded as a squadron commander),<ref>{{London Gazette |date=8 March 1918 |supp=y |issue=30569 |page=3099 |nolink=yes}}</ref> where his aerial stunts earned him the nickname "The Mad Major."{{sfnp|Shores|Franks|Guest|1990|p=94}}
⚫
For conspicuous gallantry in action. He displayed marked courage and skill on several occasions in carrying out night bombing operations. On one occasion he extinguished a hostile searchlight.


For his service in France Callaghan was awarded the [[Military Cross]], which was gazetted on 13 February 1917. His citation read:
Supplement to the London Gazette, 13 February 1917 (29940/1540)
{{quote|Second Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Joseph Cruess Callaghan, Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Flying Corps.


⚫
For conspicuous gallantry in action. He displayed marked courage and skill on several occasions in carrying out night bombing operations. On one occasion he extinguished a hostile searchlight.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=13 February 1917 |supp=y |issue=29940 |page=1540 |nolink=yes}}</ref>}}
==Sources of information==
{{reflist}}
In April 1918, Callaghan returned to combat as commanding officer of [[No. 87 Squadron RAF]], flying the [[Sopwith Dolphin]], and gained four more aerial victories between 29 May and 28 June to become a [[flying ace]].<ref name="theaerodrome"/>

On 2 July 1918, Callaghan single-handedly attacked a group of as many as 25 German fighters. He was killed when his Dolphin was shot down in flames by ''Leutnant'' [[Franz Büchner]] of ''[[Jasta 13]]''.{{sfnp|Shores|Franks|Guest|1990|p=94}} He is buried in the Contay British Cemetery, [[Contay]], France.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/81156/CALLAGHAN,%20J%20C |title=Casualty Details: Callaghan, J. C. |work=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |year=2016 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>

Two of Callaghan's younger brothers also died during the war. Captain Stanislaus Cruess Callaghan was killed in a flying accident while serving in [[Royal Flying Corps Canada]] on 27 June 1917,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/425405/CRUESS-CALLAGHAN,%20STANISLAUS |title=Casualty Details: Cruess-Callaghan, Stanislaus |work=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |year=2016 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/14th-july-1917/21/et-cietera |title=Et Cietera |page=21 |newspaper=[[The Tablet]] |date=14 July 1917 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref> while Second Lieutenant Owen (or Eugene) Cruess Callaghan was killed in action on 26 August 1916 while serving in [[No. 19 Squadron RAF|No. 19 Squadron RFC]] in France.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ourheroes.southdublinlibraries.ie/node/17152 |title=Owen Cruess Callaghan |work=Our Heroes |year=2016 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/743456/CALLAGHAN,%20EUGENE%20CRUESS |title=Casualty Details: Callaghan, Eugene Cruess |work=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |year=2016 |access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>

==List of aerial victories==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Combat record<ref name="theaerodrome"/>
|-
!No.
! width="125" |Date/Time
! width="130" |Aircraft/<br/>Serial No.
! width="100" |Opponent
! width="100" |Result
! Location
! Notes
|-
!colspan="7"| No. 18 Squadron RFC
|-
|1 || 26 April 1916 || [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2|F.E.2b]]<br/>(5232) || Fokker E || Destroyed || || Observer: Lieutenant J. Mitchell{{KIA}}
|-
!colspan="7"| No. 87 Squadron RAF
|-
|2 || 29 May 1918<br/>at 1940 || [[Sopwith Dolphin]]<br/>(D3671) || Rumpler C || Out of control || [[Villers-Bretonneux]] ||
|-
|3 || 1 June 1918<br/>at 1415 || Sopwith Dolphin<br/>(D3671) || LVG C || Destroyed || West of [[Bertangles]] ||
|-
|4 || rowspan="2"|28 June 1918<br/>at 0815–0915 || rowspan="2"|Sopwith Dolphin<br/>(D3671) || [[Albatros D.V]] || Destroyed || [[Bapaume]]—[[Quéant]] ||
|-
|5 || Albatros D.V || Out of control || Bapaume ||
|-
|}


==References==
==References==
;Notes
* ''Pusher Aces of World War 1''. Jon Guttman, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Pub Co, 2009. ISBN 1846034175, 9781846034176.
{{Reflist}}
----

;Bibliography
* {{cite book |first1=Christopher F. |last1=Shores |first2=Norman |last2=Franks |authorlink2=Norman Franks |first3=Russell F. |last3=Guest |title=Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920 |location=London, UK |publisher=Grub Street |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-948817-19-9 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |title=Pusher Aces of World War I |first1=Jon |last1=Guttman |first2=Harry |last2=Dempsey |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84603-417-6 |name-list-style=amp}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Joseph}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Joseph}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:British World War I flying aces]]
[[Category:People from Dún Laoghaire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:People educated at Belvedere College]]
[[Category:People educated at Stonyhurst College]]
[[Category:Royal Munster Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Royal Munster Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]

[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]

[[Category:Irish World War I flying aces]]
{{UK-mil-bio-stub}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:Aviators killed by being shot down]]

Revision as of 21:25, 29 October 2023

Joseph Cruess Callaghan
Nickname(s)"The Mad Major"
Born(1893-03-04)4 March 1893
Kingstown, Ireland
Died2 July 1918(1918-07-02) (aged 25)
Buried
Contay British Cemetery, Contay, France
AllegianceVereinigtes Königreich
Service/branchBritish Army
Royal Air Force
Years of service1915–1918
RankMajor
UnitRoyal Munster Fusiliers
No. 18 Squadron RFC
CommandsNo. 87 Squadron RAF
No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery
Battles/warsFirst World War
AwardsMilitary Cross
RelationsCarmencita Hederman (niece)

Joseph Cruess Callaghan, MC (4 March 1893 – 2 July 1918) was an Irish flying ace of the First World War, credited with five aerial victories.[1]

Early life and background

Joseph Cruess Callaghan was the eldest of six children of Joseph Patrick Callaghan (of Blackrock, Dublin) and Croasdella Elizabeth Mary (née Bolger; daughter of James Bolger and Croasdella Elizabeth Cruess); he was educated at Jesuit schools such as Belvedere College (Dublin) and Stonyhurst College (Lancashire, England).[2]

First World War

Callaghan was living in Texas when the First World War broke out; he returned home to be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers in January 1915.[2] He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 1 September,[3] and trained as a pilot, being granted Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No. 1829 on 4 October, after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military School, Norwich,[4] and was appointed a flying officer on 25 January 1916.[5]

Callaghan was assigned to No. 18 Squadron RFC in April 1916;[3] He piloted an F.E.2b to victory on 26 April, getting credit for destroying a Fokker Eindecker (though the Germans recorded no casualties). He crash-landed near Château de la Haie because of damaged controls, to discover his observer dead, shot through the head.[6] He was wounded in action on 31 July.[1]

Callaghan was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain and, 4 November 1916, was transferred to the Regular Army.[7] From January 1917 he served as Commandant of No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery, Turnberry, with the temporary rank of major (graded as a squadron commander),[8] where his aerial stunts earned him the nickname "The Mad Major."[3]

For his service in France Callaghan was awarded the Military Cross, which was gazetted on 13 February 1917. His citation read:

Second Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Joseph Cruess Callaghan, Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Flying Corps. For conspicuous gallantry in action. He displayed marked courage and skill on several occasions in carrying out night bombing operations. On one occasion he extinguished a hostile searchlight.[9]

In April 1918, Callaghan returned to combat as commanding officer of No. 87 Squadron RAF, flying the Sopwith Dolphin, and gained four more aerial victories between 29 May and 28 June to become a flying ace.[1]

On 2 July 1918, Callaghan single-handedly attacked a group of as many as 25 German fighters. He was killed when his Dolphin was shot down in flames by Leutnant Franz Büchner of Jasta 13.[3] He is buried in the Contay British Cemetery, Contay, France.[10]

Two of Callaghan's younger brothers also died during the war. Captain Stanislaus Cruess Callaghan was killed in a flying accident while serving in Royal Flying Corps Canada on 27 June 1917,[11][12] while Second Lieutenant Owen (or Eugene) Cruess Callaghan was killed in action on 26 August 1916 while serving in No. 19 Squadron RFC in France.[13][14]

List of aerial victories

Combat record[1]
No. Date/Time Aircraft/
Serial No. 		Opponent Result Standort Notes
No. 18 Squadron RFC
1 26 April 1916 F.E.2b
(5232)		 Fokker E Destroyed Observer: Lieutenant J. Mitchell †
No. 87 Squadron RAF
2 29 May 1918
at 1940		 Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		 Rumpler C Out of control Villers-Bretonneux
3 1 June 1918
at 1415		 Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		 LVG C Destroyed West of Bertangles
4 28 June 1918
at 0815–0915		 Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		 Albatros D.V Destroyed Bapaume—Quéant
5 Albatros D.V Out of control Bapaume

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d "Joseph Cruess Callaghan". The Aerodrome. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Etc". The Tablet. 3 August 1918. p. 16. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Shores, Franks & Guest (1990), p. 94.
  4. ^ "Aviators Certificates". Flight. Vol. VII, no. 355. 15 October 1915. p. 783. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. ^ "No. 29467". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 1916. p. 1489.
  6. ^ Guttman & Dempsey (2009), pp. 26–27.
  7. ^ "No. 29812". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 November 1916. p. 10643.
  8. ^ "No. 30569". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 March 1918. p. 3099.
  9. ^ "No. 29940". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 February 1917. p. 1540.
  10. ^ "Casualty Details: Callaghan, J. C." Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Casualty Details: Cruess-Callaghan, Stanislaus". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Et Cietera". The Tablet. 14 July 1917. p. 21. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Owen Cruess Callaghan". Our Heroes. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Casualty Details: Callaghan, Eugene Cruess". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
Bibliography
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Cruess_Callaghan&oldid=1182523586"