Maurice Graham English



Maurice Graham English was a World War I Irish aviator who was shot down by German flying ace Hans Goerth.

Background
Maurice English was the second son of John Graham English and his wife Ellen "Nellie" Jane English of Marlborough Street in Derry, Londonderry, Northern Ireland. A native of Derry, he was born in the second quarter of 1898 and attended Foyle College in the city of Derry. English was a member of the First Derry Presbyterian Church, and was with Brown's Engineering Works before he joined the service.

Military career
During World War I, Maurice English initially served in the Royal Naval Air Service, joining in early 1916. He received a commission as an observer in 1917. After the 1 April 1918 merger of that branch with the Royal Flying Corps, he served as a lieutenant in the No. 202 Squadron of the 61st Wing of the newly formed Royal Air Force. The aviator's aircraft was Airco DH.4 (A7868). He flew with English flying ace Lieutenant Lionel Arthur Ashfield, as well as Lieutenant N. H. Jenkins. Not long before his death, he was wounded while engaged in perilous photographic work over Ostend.

Death
On 16 July 1918, Lieutenant English's Airco de Havilland DH.4 with serial number A7868 was shot down while returning from Bruges by Vizeflugmeister Hans Goerth over the village of Zevekote in West Flanders, Belgium. The twenty-year-old, who had been acting as observer, died in the aerial combat, as did the pilot Lieutenant Ashfield. During World War I, the German flying ace Hans Goerth was credited with seven aerial victories. The downing of English's de Havilland was the third of seven victories for Goerth. Maurice Graham English was interred at the Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery near Nieuwpoort in West Flanders. However, the Irish aviator is also represented on a cenotaph, the Diamond War Memorial, in the center of Derry, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.