Biplane Just Ace For Daring Wwi Brunswick Fly-boy

The Age

Saturday June 14, 2008

Brendan Nicholson

HENRY Forrest was a 19-year-old clerk in Brunswick when the outbreak of World War I propelled him into the skies over the Western Front.

Forrest joined the army in February 1915 but soon transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and then to the new Australian Flying Corps.

Promoted to captain, Forrest was sent to the Western Front where he became an ace, shooting down 11 German aircraft in a series of battles that won him the Distinguished Flying Cross for his boldness and leadership as a flight commander.

Forrest flew the highly successful but humbly named SE5a (Scout, Experimental No. 5a) which, perhaps because of its lack of a less formal tag, was never immortalised by the likes of Snoopy, with his Sopwith Camel, or the Red Baron in his blood-red Fokker Triplane.

The SE5a was, however, flown by many pilots, including Britain's Irish ace, Major Mick Mannock, and Albert Ball, both of whom won the Victoria Cross.

It was considered more stable and a little faster than the temperamental Camel and easier to fly.

In a dogfight on March 22, 1918, Forrest shot down his first three aircraft, and over the coming months he destroyed six more.

He last flew in combat on July 2, 1918, when he downed his final two German planes. He was then posted to England.

Forrest was awarded the coveted Distinguished Flying Cross for showing leadership on patrols "characterised by great dash and determination" at high or low altitudes.

"He has displayed skill in manoeuvring and boldness in attacking superior numbers," the medal citation said.

The most complete surviving SE5a is owned by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which has restored the aircraft. The "scout" or fighter plane still retains much of its original fabric.

The SE5a was used by Forrest's No. 2 Squadron, but it is not clear if he flew the War Memorial's aircraft.

This week, staff at the War Memorial's warehouse were fitting the plane to a stand so that it can be moved to the memorial's Anzac Hall for an exhibition called Over the Front: The Great War in the Air, where it will join two other Allied aircraft in "battle" with a German Albatros and a Pfalz.

The SE5a's were flown in the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force until the early 1920s.

© 2008 The Age

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