LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Robert Victor BARTLEY
Service No: 7565
Born: Stawell VIC, September 1888
Enlisted in the Army: 5 January 1916
Unit: No. 5 (Training) Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, attached to No. 1 School of Special Flying RFC
Died: Aircraft Accident, Gosport, 3 July 1918, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Ann’s Hill Cemetery, Gosport, Hampshire
CWGC Additional Information: No additional information
Place of Association: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 3 July 1918, Second Lieutenant Bartley was killed in the crash of Sopwith Camel C.9 at Gosport. The aircraft was seen to come out of a half roll, partly flatten out and then go into a steep dive and crash. The Court of Enquiry found that, during some part of a manoeuvre, Second Lieutenant Bartley must have pulled the stick back so quickly as to cause his head to be thrown forward onto the guns. The impact was sufficient to render him insensible, after which he fell forward on the stick.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, BARTLEY R V