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War
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WW1
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Rank
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Second Lieutenant [shown incorrectly as Lieutenant on the memorials at St James.]
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Initial 1
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G
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Initial 2
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Initial 3
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Forename (s)
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Godfrey
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Surname
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Wiglesworth
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Award for Gallantry
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Citation from the London Gazette
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On War Memorial
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Yes
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On Porch Triptych
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Yes
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Other
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Born
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Enlisted
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Residence
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How died
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KIA
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Theatre
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Rank
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Second Lieutenant
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Regiment/service
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Royal Flying Corps
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Unit text
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24th Sqdn. 14th Wing
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Age
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21
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Date of Death
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08/07/1916
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Additional Info
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Only son of Joseph Wiglesworth. M.D., F.R.C.P. and Edith, his wife, of Springfield House, Winscombe, Somerset. Killed after a fortnight on active service. Undergraduate of King's College, Cambridgshire.
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Service #
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NO RECORD
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Grave/Memorial Reference
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III. A. 19.
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Grave/Memorial
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AVESNES-LE-COMTE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
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Biographical Info
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Godfrey Wiglesworth embarked for France on 28 June 1916 and was attached to No. 2 Air Depot at St Omer - probably awaiting a posting to a squadron - the following day. On the 1st of July the first battle of the Somme started and on that day he was posted to 24 Squadron at Bertangles.
24 Squadron was the RFC's first dedicated single-seat fighter squadron and was formed on 7 February 1916 under the command of Major LG Hawker VC DSO, flying Airco DH2 "pusher" biplane fighters to combat the "Fokker scourge" and establish allied air superiority over the battlefield.
At the end of the first week of fighting over the Somme, when he flew DH2 serial number 5968, Godfrey was injured. He was evacuated to the 37th Casualty Clearing Station at Avesnes-Le-Comte. On the 8th of July his squadron received a report from 37 CCS that he had "died from wounds received in action" and his death was recorded in the Squadron roll as "Accidentally Killed". The Commonwealth War Graves Commission show his cause of death as “Killed in action (engine failure)”
Unfortunately the detailed records compiled by the squadron at the time, and records of aircraft accidents from that period, seem not to have survived and so the exact details of his "flying accident" [as it was called in his obituary] is unknown.
In the five months of the first battle of the Somme, the British lost 782 aircraft and 576 pilots but maintained air superiority over the battlefield.
24 Squadron remains operational as one of the oldest RAF squadrons and today operates Hercules transport aircraft and is based at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.
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Obituary
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The Times 15 July 1916
"Second Lieutenant Godfrey Wiglesworth, RFC, who was killed at the front in a flying accident on July 8, Aged 21, was the only son of Dr and Mrs Wiglesworth of Winscombe, Somerset, formerly of Rainhill, Lancashire. He was educated at The Leas, Hoylake, at Clifton, and at King's College, Cambridge, where he was pursuing medical studies at the outbreak of the war. He was a member of the Cambridge University OTC and received his commission in the Royal Flying Corps last December, but had only recently gone to the front. His commanding officer reports :-'He flew very well, and showed keenness and initiative, and I am more sorry than I can say at losing such a promising pilot’."
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Research Info
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In Wells Cathedral memorial book. London Gazette records promotion to 2nd Lt on 10/6/16 .
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