William Sidebottom (RAF officer)

Lieutenant William Sidebottom (born 11 October 1893, date of death unknown) was a World War I flying ace credited with fourteen aerial victories.

Sidebottom joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 11 October 1917. In 1918, he was assigned to 203 Squadron as a Sopwith Camel pilot. He scored his first win on 16 June, sharing the destruction of a DFW two-seater reconnaissance plane with Lieutenant Edwin Hayne and three other pilots. He then accumulated a trickle of victories through 29 October 1918, sharing in the destruction of two reconnaissance planes with Captain Leonard Henry Rochford and the midair burning of another with Captain Arthur Whealy. Sidebottom's final toll was the destruction of seven enemy airplanes, with five of those wins shared; seven driven down out of control, including two shared triumphs.

Post World War I
Sidebottom's Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted to him on 7 February 1919. By this time, he may have already been in southern Russia, as he served there in 1919.

Honours and awards
Text of citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

"Lieut. William Sidebottom, 203rd Squadron. (FRANCE) This officer has carried out numerous offensive and low bombing patrols with courage, skill and judgment. He has also proved himself a bold and resolute fighter in aerial combats, having nine enemy machines to his credit."