Lieutenant Ronald William Turner was an English World War I flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

. He was credited with nine aerial victories while flying as an observer/gunner in two-seater fighters.

Early life

Ronald William Turner was born in York, England on 17 November 1897. The younger Turner worked for five years as a joiner

Joiner

A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...

 and carpenter prior to joining the Yorkshire Regiment

Yorkshire Regiment

The Yorkshire Regiment is one of the largest infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment is currently the only line infantry or rifles unit to represent a single geographical county in the new infantry structure, serving as the county regiment of Yorkshire covering the historical areas...

 to serve in World War I. He was promoted to Lance Corporal

Lance Corporal

Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...

 in the Yorkshires, then commissioned as a second lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

.

World War I

Turner transferred from infantry duty to the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 in December 1917. By May 1918, he had completed training as an aerial observer

Aerial observer

Aerial Observer- Air Force Reconnaissance.An Aerial Observer is the functional position of gathering information visually from an airborne platform for use by military or commercial purposes. This history started when the first balloons were flown in Europe...

, been posted to 20 Squadron, and begun his string of aerial success that would run until 29 July 1918. On 9 August 1918, he was medically evacuated to a London hospital.

He was rewarded for his valour with the Distinguished Flying Cross on 4 November 1918. His award citation short-changed him when it read:
He was subsequently promoted to temporary lieutenant, with seniority from 27 December 1918. Upon recovery, he would serve at the School of Air Gunnery through the turn of the year, and with 50th TDS in early 1919.

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	18 May 1918 @ 1140 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter or popularly the "Brisfit" or "Biff". Despite being a two-seater, the F.2B proved to be an agile aircraft...  serial number B1168	Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.III |-See also:-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Grosz, Peter M. Pfalz D.IIIa . Berkhamsted, Herts, UK: Albatros Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-94841-425-1.* Guttman, Jon. Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ...	Destroyed	North of Neuf-Berquin Neuf-Berquin -References:*...	Pilot: John Henry Colbert
2	4 July 1918 @ 1620 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n C951	Albatros D.V Albatros D.V |-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....	Destroyed	West of Veldhoek	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci Paul Iaccaci Captain Paul Thayer Iaccaci was a World War I flying ace credited with 17 aerial victories. He was born to Auguste Florian and Mabel Thayer Iaccaci on 6 June 1893. He attended Harvard College from 1910 to 1911. He went to Canada and joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. His brother August...
3	4 July 1918 @ 1630 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n C951	Albatros D.V	Driven down out of control	West of Veldhoek	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci
4	4 July 1918 @ 1640 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n C951	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	Northeast of Zillebeke Lake	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci
5	10 July 1918 @ 0920 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n D7919	Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...	Destroyed	East of Zillebeke Lake	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci
6	10 July 1918 @ 0920 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n D7919	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	East of Zillebeke Lake	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci
7	14 July 1918 @ 0900 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter	Fokker D.VII	Driven down out of control	Southeast of Ypres Ypres Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...	Pilot: Paul Iaccaci. Victory shared with Dennis Latimer Dennis Latimer Captain Dennis Latimer was a World War I flying ace notable for achieving 28 aerial victories, all against enemy fighter planes.Dennis Latimer was born in Withington, Ireland to James D. and Ida L...  and Tom Cecil Noel Tom Cecil Noel Lieutenant Tom Cecil Noel, , Military Cross with Bar, was a World War I infantry officer turned aerial observer, notable for winning a Military Cross for bravery on both land and air....
8	24 July 1918 @ 2000 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter D7951	Fokker D.VII	Destroyed	North of Comines Comines Comines is a commune of the Nord department in northern France.-Geography:The town of Comines is located at the Franco-Belgian border, and is split into two parts: Comines and Comines , part of the municipality of Comines-Warneton....	Pilot: John Colbert
9	29 July 1918 @ 2010 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter s/n D7951	Fokker D.VII	Destroyed	Northwest of Wervicq	Pilot: John Colbert

Post World War I

On 1 June 1919, he went on the unemployed list of the Royal Air Force and disappeared into the mists of history.

Reference

• Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Righter Aces, 1914-1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air aces of WWI. Norman Franks
  Norman Franks
  Norman Leslie Robert Franks is an English writer who specialises in aviation books on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II.-Biography:...
  
  , Russell Guest, Gregory Alegi. Grub Street, 1997. ISBN 1898697566, 9781898697565.

Endnotes

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