Nickname(s) Sandy Name Charles Banks Rank Captain | Years of service 1914-1918 Allegiance United Kingdom | |
Born 17 December 1893
Hampstead, London, England ( 1893-12-17 ) Died 21 December 1971(1971-12-21) (aged 78)
Lewes, Sussex, England Service/branch British Army (1916-1918)
Royal Air Force (1918) | ||
Captain Charles Chaplin Banks (17 December 1893 – 21 December 1971) was a World War I flying ace credited with thirteen aerial victories. He scored a pioneering night fighter victory on 31 May 1918, when he shot down a German Friedrichshafen G bomber.
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Early life and service
Charles Chaplin Banks was the son of Helen Agnes and Charles P. Banks; the latter owned and taught at the Arnold House Preparatory School in Llanddulas, Wales. Banks was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th (Flintshire) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, on 10 December 1914, having been a Cadet in the Oxford University Contingent, Senior Division, Officers' Training Corps. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in October 1916. After pilot training, he was assigned to 44 Squadron.
Aerial service
On 28 January 1918, while flying his Sopwith Camel on Home Defence duties with 44 Squadron, he teamed with Captain George Hackwill in driving down and capturing a German Gotha G.V bomber, serial no. 936/16, raiding England. The feat was worth a Military Cross.
He was then sent to France to serve with 43 Squadron. Between 6 April and 31 May 1918, he reeled off five more wins; for the last of these, he drove down and captured a Friedrichshafen G bomber at ten minutes before midnight for the first victory over this type. He would destroy three more enemy fighters by 29 August, bringing his total to nine. He then switched to the new Sopwith Snipe for his last three wins, ending his string on 30 October 1918. His final tally was two enemy planes captured, six destroyed, and four driven down out of control, although one of the latter was shared with Captain Cecil Frederick King. His DFC was gazetted to him postwar.