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Lieutenant-Colonel Charles James Burke〔 〕 DSO (1881 or 82 – 9 April 1917) was an officer in the Royal Irish Regiment〔 〕 and the Royal Flying Corps and a military aviation pioneer. He was both the first commander of No. 2 Squadron and later the Second Wing. Charles Burke was born in 1881 or 1882 and he was the youngest son of the Mr M C C Burke of Ballinhone House, Armagh, Ireland.〔 〕 ==Military service before World War I== Burke's military service began as a soldier in the British Army and he served in the Boer War during which time he received the Queen's medal with two clasps.〔 In 1902, at the end of the War, he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment and after several years of regimental service, including three years with the West African Frontier Force,〔 he was promoted to captain in September 1909. The following year Burke travelled to France where he learned to fly in a Farman biplane, gaining his Aéro-Club de France certificate in the process. After his return to England, Burke was employed at the Army's Balloon School.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=May 1912 - Major G J Burke )〕 In early 1911, Burke was involved in conducting heavier-than-air aircraft tests at the Balloon Factory. On 7 January 1911 Burke flew a Farman aircraft for two miles over Laffan's Plain at 50 to 80 feet and landed near the Balloon Factory. A few minutes later, Burke attempted a second flight. However, after only 50 yards he stalled and the aircraft came to earth on its right wing, cart-wheeled and disintegrated. Burke received injuries in the crash.〔 〕 Despite this experience, Burke was not deterred from flying. In July of the same year, he flew from Salisbury Plain to Aldershot and back and later on he made a return flight to Oxford.〔 〕 Burke was also one of the earliest British Army officers to consider air power in depth. In 1911, whilst serving as a captain in the Air Battalion, Burke wrote the first air power article to be published in the Royal United Services Institute Journal. In his article Burke compared the reconnaissance activities of cavalry to those of aircraft and observed that just as opposing cavalry might be drawn into battle, so could aircraft.〔 〕 In 1912 Burke wrote his 29 maxims for flying, including: On 13 May 1912, Burke became the commanding officer of the Flying Corps' No. 2 Squadron and was promoted to major. During the next two years, Burke trained his squadron in aerial reconnaissance. In September 1912, Burke took part in the Army Manoeuvres. Burke was responsible for the control of nine aircraft under the direction of Major Frederick Sykes. On 13 February 1913, Burke lead five aircraft of No. 2 Squadron from their base at RAE Farnborough, north in a series of stages over the following 13 days. The aircraft landing at Upper Dysart Farm on 26 February, south of Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland thus making it the first military airbase to be established in the United Kingdom. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Burke (British Army officer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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