Nickname(s) Jack Rank Lieutenant Years of service 1917–1919 | Allegiance United Kingdom Died 1983 (aged 83–84) Name George Riley | |
Born 23 February 1899
Battersea, London, England ( 1899-02-23 ) Service/branch British Army
Royal Air Force | ||
Lieutenant George Raby Riley (23 February 1899 – 1983) was a British World War I flying ace credited with thirteen aerial victories. He was an ace balloon buster, as well as an ace over enemy aircraft.
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Military service
Riley joined the Royal Flying Corps as a cadet, and was appointed a temporary second lieutenant (on probation) on 12 August 1917. He was granted Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 5205 on 7 September 1917, and was appointed a flying officer and confirmed in his rank on 12 December.
Riley was posted to No. 3 Squadron on his 19th birthday, 23 February 1918. He began his string of aerial successes on 22 March 1918, when he used his Sopwith Camel to drive a German Albatros D.V fighter down out of control. For his next victory five days later, he cooperated with fellow ace Douglas John Bell in destroying a LVG two-seater reconnaissance machine. After he destroyed his first observation balloon on 8 April and another Albatros D.V on the 12th, he was wounded on the 20th.
He would not score again until 8 August. In this second string of victories, he shared two credits with Hazel Wallace and one with William Maxted. It was with the latter that he scored his fifth balloon victory, and twelfth win overall, by the unusual measure of bombing it into flames while it was on the ground. The day following that, on 28 September 1918, he scored his last victory. In total, he had destroyed five balloons, two of which were shared with other pilots, as well as destroying two enemy aircraft. He also drove down five enemy aircraft out of control, and captured one.
On 14 October 1918 he was appointed an acting-captain while serving as a flight commander. He was transferred to the RAF's unemployed list on 11 April 1919.