John E. L. Hunter

Who is John E. L. Hunter?

Captain John Ellis Langford Hunter was a World War I flying ace credited with 12 confirmed aerial victories.

Hunter joined 4 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service as a Sopwith Camel pilot in July 1917. On 3 September, he teamed with another British pilot to drive down a German observation plane out of control. On the 22nd, he shared one of his two victories when he shot down two seaplanes northeast of Ostend. There was a six month lull; then he destroyed a Pfalz D.III on 21 March 1918, and continued to score sporadically until 12 August 1918. On the latter day, he flamed one Fokker D.VII, destroyed another, and drove a third down out of control, to bring his total to 12. He suffered a leg wound in the process. His final tally was eight destroyed, four brought down out of control.

Ellis died in South Africa in 1971.