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Edward Corringham "Mick" Mannock & Two Bars, MC & Bar (24 May 1887 – 26 July 1918) was a British flying ace in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Mannock was born in Ireland, where his father -- a British Army corporal was stationed -- and was of English and Scottish parentage. Mannock went into combat on the Western Front on three separate combat tours. After a troubled start in his first assignment to No. 40 Squadron RAFNo. 40 Squadron, he began to accumulate victories. He took on the highly hazardous task of balloon busting for his first aerial victory, and by dogged concentration on his gunnery skills, tallied 15 victories by the end of his first combat tour. After two months back in England, he returned to France as a Flight Commander in the fledgling No. 74 Squadron. He amassed 36 more victories between 12 April and 17 June 1918. He also gained a reputation for ruthless hatred of his German adversaries, delighting in seeing them burn to death. He became phobic about burning to death himself in midair. The stresses of combat began to tell on him, and he also became ill with a lingering case of influenza. When ordered home on leave in June, he wept. He returned as Officer Commanding No. 85 Squadron in July 1918, and scored nine more victories that month. By now, his phobias had spread to include excessive tidiness, and he also had presentiments of his coming end. Just days after warning fellow ace George McElroy about the deadly hazards of flying low into ground fire, Mannock did just that on 26 July 1918. His plane was set on fire, and he was killed in action. Mannock was one of the world's first theorists of aviation tactics, and was renowned for his prudent but aggressive leadership in the air. By the time he rose to command of No. 85 Squadron, his subordinates boasted that he never lost a wingman. Mannock received the Military Cross twice, was one of the rare three-time recipients of the Distinguished Service Order, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He is regarded as one of the greatest fighter pilots of the war. ==Youth== Edward Mannock was born on 24 May 1887, in Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland and was a staunch supporter of Irish Home Rule.His father was a Scots/Irish corporal in the British Army and his mother was English. The family moved to India early in Mick's life, before postings brought the family back to England. In 1897, Mannock developed amoebic infestation which rendered him temporarily blind. Legend has it that it left him with permanently impaired vision; however accounts written by former comrades discount any such impairment. His father, a hard-drinking, brutal man, abandoned his family when Mick was twelve. He had to leave school for a series of jobs including, in 1911, one with the National Telephone Company in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. In 1913 he became the Secretary of the Wellingborough Independent Labour Party. The outbreak of the war found him working as a telephone engineer in Turkey. The Turks interned him and his health rapidly declined in prison. Near death, he was repatriated and, in 1915, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. By 1916, he had become an officer in the Royal Engineers and in August 1916 transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. 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「Mick Mannock」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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