James McKinley Hargreaves

Who is James McKinley Hargreaves?

Sergeant James McKinley Hargreaves DCM was a Scottish World War I flying ace. Despite being an observer, he became one of the first flying aces in history because he flew with Lionel Rees, VC.

Hargreaves was assigned to the first British flying squadron to be equipped with a purpose-built fighter aircraft, the pusher Vickers Gunbus. The squadron arrived in France on 25 July 1915, at approximately the time Adolphe Pegoud became the first ace in history. Three days later, Hargreaves scored his first aerial victory while teamed with Rees in Gunbus Serial No. 1649, driving a Fokker Eindekker down out of control. On 31 August, they destroyed an LVG two-seater reconnaissance plane. Hargreaves' third victory came on 21 September, when he drove down an AGO reconnaissance airplane over Herbecourt. The next day, he repeated, driving down an Albatros two-seater southeast of Albert. On the 30th, they forced down another Albatros, this one from the German artillery cooperation squadron, FFA23. The dying crew crash-landed behind British lines, and the aircraft captured. Hargreaves was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his valor, and Rees the Military Cross.