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
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Royal Air Force
Years of service1915–1918
RankMajor
UnitRoyal Munster Fusiliers
No. 18 Squadron RFC
Commands heldNo. 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 Location Notes
No. 18 Squadron RFC
126 April 1916F.E.2b
(5232)		Fokker EDestroyedObserver: Lieutenant J. Mitchell †
No. 87 Squadron RAF
229 May 1918
at 1940		Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		Rumpler COut of controlVillers-Bretonneux
31 June 1918
at 1415		Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		LVG CDestroyedWest of Bertangles
428 June 1918
at 0815–0915		Sopwith Dolphin
(D3671)		Albatros D.VDestroyedBapaume—Quéant
5Albatros D.VOut of controlBapaume

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Joseph Cruess Callaghan". The Aerodrome. 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Etc". The Tablet. 3 August 1918. p. 16. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 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
  • Shores, Christopher F.; Franks, Norman & Guest, Russell F. (1990). Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
  • Guttman, Jon & Dempsey, Harry (2009). Pusher Aces of World War I. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-417-6.
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