Five: Squadron Leader A. J. Fricker, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps, who successfully destroyed a balloon and sent a Fokker DVII fighter out of control above the Western Front, before being taken Prisoner of War

British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. A. J. Fricker. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; together with the recipient’s Second War card identity disc ‘A. J. Fricker Offr 192398 R.A.F.O.’, nearly extremely fine (5) £300-£400

Alan James Fricker was born in Kingston, Surrey, on 9 March 1899, and attested for the Royal Flying Corps on 26 August 1917. Initially sent to Crystal Palace and Eastbourne for Pilot training, he graduated from Cranwell on 23 January 1918, the remarks in his service record adding: ‘V.G. Pilot. Good officer. Recom’d for Scouts.’ Transferred to the R.N.A.S. and sent to Fighting School at Manston, Fricker was advanced Flight Sub Lieutenant in No. 3 Naval Squadron (later 203 Squadron, R.A.F.) and crossed the Channel to Dunkirk on 15 March 1918. Piloting a Sopwith Camel fighter aircraft Fricker recorded four indecisive combats with enemy aircraft between April and July 1918. He also destroyed a balloon - a particularly hazardous feat given the volatility of their hydrogen contents.

On 4 July 1918, Lieutenant Fricker and eleven fellow pilots of 203 Squadron were detailed to an offensive patrol at 17,500 feet in the Estaires-Merville locality. The casualty report offers further detail:
‘Pilot left aerodrome at 7-45pm with 11 others on offensive patrol and failed to return. He was last seen at 8-55pm diving in combat with a Fokker biplane 2 miles East of Ypres. Recommended that this machine (D/3370) be struck off strength of No. 203 Sqdn.’

An eyewitness account by a fellow pilot, adds: ‘Whilst on Offensive Patrol we met 4 E.A. I saw Lieut. A. J. Fricker attack E.A. from behind and fire good burst. E.A. went down side-slipping from side to side out of control. Lieut. Fricker has not returned from Patrol yet.’

Recorded as a Prisoner of War, Fricker was finally released from captivity on 14 December 1918. Discharged to the unemployed list on 10 September 1919, it seems likely that he returned to civilian employment as a civil engineer. Appointed Squadron Leader in the R.A.F. Technical Branch (Aircraft Equipment) on 1 December 1941, he died at Ellesborough, near Aylesbury, on 4 September 1966.

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