Galbraith, Daniel Murray Bayne

Daniel Galbraith was born on April 27, 1895 in the small town of Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada. In 1914-15 he attended St. Adrewa's College in Toronto.

In 1915, Galbraith and his friends A. R. Brown and S. Edwards, also from Carleton Place (all three later became fighter aces), decided to enlist in the army, but they wanted to serve in the air force and this was not possible directly from civilian life at the time. The only way to take to the skies was from the ranks of the ground troops. But it was clear to all three friends that by the time their application was processed, they too could be killed in the trenches of the Western Front.

Therefore, they decided to leave for the United States in the late summer of 1915 and enroll in the Wright Brothers Flight School in Dayton, Ohio. For they knew that a pilot's diploma was an instant universal ticket to the Air Force. The friends also agreed to enlist in the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service), partly for the apparent safer service, partly for the higher pay.

Galbraith, along with the others, graduated from pilot school in the fall of 1915, immediately signed a pledge to join the RNAS, and was commissioned as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant(Naval Probationary Second Lieutenant).

On 1 April 1916, after successfully completing his training, he was transferred to the 1st Naval Wing, where he rotated through Cranwell, Dover and Eastchurch bases. Flying Nieuport aircraft, his main duties were patrolling the waters of the English Channel, searching for enemy submarines, driving German seaplanes away from his own vessels and reporting the movements of the dreaded Zeppelin airships.

Then on 15 July 1916, in the cockpit of Nieuport 10 v. no. 3963, he attacked and shot down a seaplane near Ostend. This earned him his first victory.

He repeated his success at the end of the summer, this time in the cockpit of the smaller and more agile Nieuport 11, when he fought another German seaplane. This and the previous encounter are described in a proposal for Galbraith's honours sent by RNAS HQ:

"On 28 September 1916 this officer, while on patrol over the sea, sighted a large enemy two-seater seaplane. The enemy machine exploded in mid-air, which was probably due to its bombs being hit and exploding. From his position, it seems likely that this machine was intending to attack the south-east coast of England. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Galbraith's machine was badly damaged by enemy fire, its windscreen and machine gun sight being blasted away early in the engagement, but the pilot continued the attack. This encounter was witnessed by the pilot and an observer of the French seaplane.

In addition to the above, on 21 July this officer engaged an enemy seaplane near Ostend. The enemy machine gained an advantageous position. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Galbraith executed a somersault over the Germans with his machine, thus gaining the desired position behind him. The German pilot was seen to be hit, the machine went into a vertical drop and broke up in flames. This officer is an extremely courageous pilot, and has given consistently good service since 12 June 1916."

The suggestion (although in the case of Galbraith's first victory the author was mistaken in the dating of the event, see above) fell on deaf ears, and on 25 October the London Gazette carried a citation for his DSC honours:

"In recognition of his services in an attack on a large two-seater enemy seaplane on 28 September 1916. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Galbraith's machine was badly damaged by fire from the enemy machine, which eventually exploded in mid-air."

Coincidentally, just three days before this quote was published, Galbraith had already shot down another seaplane near Blankenbergh on a brand new Sopwith Pup. However, it is not entirely clear in which unit he achieved this kill, as he had just been serving in the newly formed 8th Marine Squadron since 25 October, while he also apparently no longer served in the 1st Wing. Otherwise, for his victory of 28 September, he was also still nominated for a decoration by the crew of the aforementioned French seaplane that witnessed his victory. He therefore also received the Croix de Guerre from the French, the citation appearing in 36th Army Order No. 30, dated 8 October 1916 (the London Gazette did not publish the same citation until after the war - 28 February 1922).

Now, with his joining the 8th Squadron stationed in France, the nature of Galbraith's work changed radically. RNAS squadrons were no longer confined to patrols over the sea, but were actively engaged alongside the RFC in aerial combat over trenches near the coast or British naval bases in France.

The squadron began its duties over the front from 3 November 1916, and just a week later on 10 November Galbraith opened the unit's scoring when he engaged a fighter Roland (probably a version of D.II)over Bapaume in his Pup and brought it down in an uncontrolled crash.

Six days later, he sent an uncontrolled observation LVG down, claiming the ace title. He destroyed the same type on 23 Nov at Cambrai. For this action he was awarded the Bar to DSC, the citation being published on 16 Feb 1917:

"For conspicuous gallantry. On 23 November 1916 he attacked an unaided formation of six enemy aircraft, no other Allied machine being in the immediate vicinity. One enemy machine was shot down, another was forced to land and the remaining four machines then gave up the fight and landed. In several other aerial engagements Flight Lieutenant Galbraith displayed exceptional gallantry, particularly on 10 and 16 November 1916, when on each of these days he successfully attacked and shot down an enemy machine."

Because he had already suffered a severe wound on 7 December 1916 that put him out of service for a long time, the number of Daniel's victories stopped at 6. Compared to the staggering numbers of kills by other Aces in the later stages of the war, this number may seem insignificant, but this is only a superficial view. Indeed, at that time Galbraith was one of (if we ignore the phenomenal A. Ball with 30 victories) among the leading British aces, e.g. the future greats J. McCudden and R. Collishaw had 1 and 2 kills respectively.

As noted, Galbraith sustained an unspecified injury which required long-term hospitalization. It was not until June 1917 that he was assigned to Manston Base in England. In April 1918, he was stationed at Redcar as an instructor. During the year he took part in anti-submarine operations in Italy. In August 1918 he served with the Air Ministry and on 25 September 1918 he was reassigned to the 11th Group, where he ended the war.

Unlike his friends Brown and Edwards, he remained in the Canadian Air Force after the war. As early as 29 March 1921, however, he was killed in an automobile accident.

Sources:

kilby.sac.on.ca
www.theaerodrome.com
https://www.airforce.ca/wwi/GONG-4.G-H.html

Portrait of a "seaplane hunter"