A good Royal Flying Corps 1916 Military Cross and 1914/15 trio (RFC & RAF) France & Italian Front fighter pilot’s group He won the Military Cross whilst a flight leader in an aerial engagement on 17th June 1916, helping to shoot down a hostile machine, In July 1916 he scored one of the first victories with Le Prieur incendiary rockets bringing a Kite Balloon down in flames. Commanded 45 Squadron in Italy July 1918 at a few days after his 21 birthday, and reputedly the youngest Major and Commanding Officer in the Royal Air Force.

Military Cross, (GV) reverse engraved  ‘J.A. Crook 1916.’, 1914/15 Star; (2.Lieut. R.F.C.), British War Medal, Victory Medal,  (Major R.A.F.), Defence Medal, War Medal ( France, Croix de Guerre with Bronze Palm, reverse dated 1914-1917.)

Major J.A. Crook

Note The Croix de Guerre does not appear in the London Gazette, possibly a ‘field award’

M.C. London Gazette for 27th July 1916. 2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) Joseph Alan Crook, R.F.C., Spec. Res.

2nd Lt. (temp. Capt.) Joseph Alan Crook, R.F.C., Spec. Res.
For conspicuous gallantry. He attacked and drove down to 6,000 feet a hostile machine, and finally, assisted by another aeroplane, brought it to the ground. He has previously done excellent”work, often under heavy anti-aircraft fire.

Original citation expands

Lieutenant (temporary Captain) Joseph Allan Crook, No. 11 Squadron R.F.C.
‘For skill and gallantry in bringing down a hostile aeroplane, in our own lines with the assistance of another British machine. On the 17 June 1916 a hostile reconnaissance of six machines was reported. Captain Crook in a single seater scout started from the ground, intercepted this reconnaissance and attacked one of the six machines. He fired a drum of machine gun ammunition at it and drove it down to 6000 feet when he was joined by another scout. After more firing the hostile machine landed on one wing in our lines. The pilot and Observer (who was wounded) were captured.
Captain Crook has done excellent work previously in artillery observation (several times under heavy A.A. fire) and in driving away hostile machines.’

Son of John Biggs Howard Crook prominent mill owner (Eagle Mills) of Bolton, Joseph Alan Crook , at some point additionally assumed ‘Howard’ was born on 12th July 1897 in Bolton, Lancashire,

Educated at Winchester School from 1911 to 1915, at the age of 18 shortly after the outbreak of the Great War he enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps, and was taught to fly at the Central Flying School at Upavon, qualifying as a pilot through the London and Provincial Flying School at Hendon on 30th April 1915 (Certificate No.1202), he having passed his test in an L and P Biplane.

Posted to Brooklands for a course of instruction from 5th July 1915, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on probation into the Special Reserve on attachment to the Royal Flying Corps on 26th July 1915, and then posted back to the Central Flying School on 1st August 1915, and was confirmed in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and appointed a Flying Officer with the Royal Flying Corps on 11th September 1915. The next day he joined 21 Squadron on home defence duties.

Crook was then posted operationally out to the Western Front on 11th October 1915 where he joined 8 Squadron, and flew BE2c aircraft on artillery observation sorties. Posted to 12 Squadron on 15th March 1916, in the same month whilst flying A126 a Nieuport Scout fighter on 27th May 1916 he crash landed at the airfield, from which he retained a piece of the fabric of his damaged aircraft. (included in lot)

Having then transferred to 11 Squadron on 30th May 1916, once again flying Nieuport Scout fighters, Crook flew with ‘B’ Flight and would have flown alongside Albert Ball V.C. The squadron was busy during 1916 and Crook saw a lot of action over the Somme area, attacking observation balloons. Crook was awarded the Military Cross for an aerial engagement on 17 June 1916 when serving as a Captain and Flight Leader on a Nieuport scout with one Lewis gun and Le Prieur sight, S.E. of Doullens. His combat report states ‘Having been sent up to endeavour to intercept a hostile reconnaissance of 6 machines reported S.E. of ARRAS. I met these machines between Gommecourt and Pas. I attacked the lowest and fired three bursts (1 drum) using the Le Prieur sight. I drove the machine down to 6,000 ft when a De Haviland Scout attacked the same machine. I then fired several bursts more and the hostile machine went still lower. We followed right down and the hostile machine landed on its left wing swinging round bodily on the ground in plough, N.E. Of Terramesnil. I am unable to say for certain who fired the last burst, but I think I did, as the De Haviland was not within range when the hostile machine began to dive finally.’

War Diary 1918 (sic.) June 1916 states ‘Capt. Crook, No. 11 Squadron, on a Nieuport Scout, assisted by a De Havilland from 4th Brigade, brought down a German machine near Doullens.

On 3 July 1916 an attack was made on the enemy’s kite balloons on the fronts of the IIIrd and IVth armies, one being brought down in flames by Capt. Crook of 11 Squadron in a Nieuport scout fitted with Le Prieur rockets.

Crook was posted home on 18th August 1916, and promoted to Lieutenant on 1st September 1916, having been serving as a temporary Captain and Flight Commander since 2nd March 1916. Posted to the School of Air Gunnery on 13th September 1916 as an Acting Squadron Commander, he was then posted to 99 Squadron on 15th August 1917, the day the squadron was formed at Yatesbury in Wiltshire from elements supplied by No. 13 Training Squadron. The squadron was equipped with de Havilland D.H.9 bombers. On the same date Crook was promoted to Squadron Commander. Crook was however then posted out to No.1 School of Aerial Gunnery followed by No.3 School of Aerial Gunnery.

With the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1st April 1918 he transferred over as a Captain and Temporary Major, and was serving with No.1 School of Aerial Gunnery in 13 Group as of 22nd June 1918, before being posted to 14 Wing in the Midlands area on 20th July 1918, he then joined 45 Squadron in Italy, and based at Grossa. At this time Crook was by repute the youngest Commanding Officer and youngest Major in the Royal Air Force, he being then only 21 years old. By this stage however he already had 850 hours flying experience with a wealth of knowledge of most of the aircraft in use at the time. Despite the presence of several experienced Camel flight commanders in Italy crook was appointed to command following the death of the hugely popular Major Vaucour MC. DFC.

Crook later wrote

‘I arrived to take command shortly after Vaucour’s death , which had obviously upset everyone, as he was extremely popular. Captain N.C. Jones was temporarily in command and seemed very glad to see me, although somewhat surprised that I was only 21. All three Flight Commanders were very experienced and absolutely first class as indeed were also all the pilot and no Squadron Commander ever had a more loyal team. The same was true of all the NCO’s and men. Of the 23 officers in the squadron, only five were from the British Isles. All the rest were Colonials and there were two or three Americans.’

Having then briefly returned to the Western Front in command of his squadron on 17th September, he remained there till posted home in October 1918. Whilst with 45 Squadron he flew Sopwith Camel fighters. Transferred back to the Home Establishment on 22nd October 1918. Crook was transferred to the Unemployed List on 3rd April 1919. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Crook once again joined the Royal Air Force and saw service as a Squadron Leader with the Special Duties Branch located at the Air Ministry.

Together with a small piece of original Great War period aircraft fabric, as removed from a Nieuport aircraft of 12 Squadron in March 1916 after an airfield accident, and kept by Joseph Crook and later retained by his family and extensive research files