Lieutenant Douglas Fraser Mackintosh, 55 Squadron RFC.
Lieutenant Douglas Fraser Mackintosh was the son of the Rev William Teesdale Mackintosh and Mrs Ethel Lawrence Mackintosh, of 19, Davigdor Rd, Hove, Sussex. On the outbreak of war he enlisted with the 1st Australian Contingent and was wounded at Gallipoli on 25 April, 1915. For some reason he served under the name of George Matthews.
Subsequently he served with the Royal Flying Corps and was posted to 55 Squadron, which was a day-bomber squadron equipped with the DH 4,(the first squadron to receive the new light bomber). On 2 October 1917 he was acting as observer in DH4 no A7642 when the aircraft (piloted by Lt William Bishop who had only been on the Western Front for three weeks) was attacked by seven German aircraft. The fight lasted at least 20 minutes but the end was inevitable. Mackintosh and Bishop's aircraft was hit and exploded, the wings became detached and the aircraft crashed at a hamlet called Ezel. It is reported that a German pilot landed and said to a witness, "What a pity such heroes should have to die. They could have escaped but preferred to fight to the finish. Never have I seen such gallant resistance before". It is doubtful they could really have escaped with odds so heavily against them.
Lt Douglas Mackintosh is buried at Harlebeke New British Cemetery. Alongside him lies Lt William Bishop. Harlebeke New British Cemetery is located 32 kilometres east of Ypres town centre on a road leading from the N8 Meenseweg, connecting Ypres to Menin.
2 October 1917
Image courtesy The War Graves Photographic Project.
Sources
http://www.theaerodrome.com/
http://www.cwgc.org/search/
http://www.cwgc.org/search/
http://www.cwgc.org/search/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Research by David Tattersfield MA, WFA Development Trustee
