Frank Gorringe

Who is Frank Gorringe?

Captain Frank Clifton Gorringe was a World War I flying ace credited with 14 aerial victories.

Gorringe was working as an express clerk when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 23 September 1914, a week shy of his 25th birthday. Frank J. Gorringe was listed as his next of kin, and obviously is his father. The enlistee was five feet six inches tall, had a fair complexion, light brown hair, hazel eyes, and professed to belong to the Church of England. He enlisted in the 5th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Gorringe first trained as an observer and flew manning the observer's gun in a Sopwith 1½ Strutter with 43 Squadron in 1917. From there, he progressed to pilot's training and qualified to fly a Sopwith Camel for 70 Squadron. On 7 November 1917, he scored his first win; at the end of the year, on 28 December, he became an ace. He had driven down an enemy reconnaissance plane out of control, captured another, teamed with Frank Granger Quigley to set an Albatros D.V, and destroyed two other recce planes.