War casualty added to memorial roll after Angus sleuth’s efforts

An Angus sleuth has helped get a Scottish airman’s name added to a war memorial.

Historian Patrick Anderson’s efforts mean Robert John Fleming has now been accepted as a casualty of war.

Second Lieutenant Fleming was a trainee pilot when he was killed while flying at Croydon on January 29 1918, aged just 19.

When Mr Anderson discovered he was not listed on the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh, he set about rectifying the oversight.

He said he was delighted to have succeeded in his quest.

“He was a brave young man who was killed without even seeing the enemy in the air,” he added.

Mr Fleming was born in Edinburgh in 1898 and his father worked for the family business of John Fleming and Sons Wholesale Grocers in Dundee and the Preserve Works in Coupar Angus.

Mr Anderson said: “Mr Fleming must have volunteered for the war service in the ranks of the 6th Scots during February 1915.

“He was posted to Egypt in September 1915 and then to France during May 1916 but was only 17 so he was sent home to await his 18th birthday.

“He joined the 2/4 Seaforth Highlanders in training but then on October 10 1917 he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps as a trainee pilot and posted to the RFC at Croydon flying Sopwith Camels.”

On January 29 1918 he was flying the machine and was killed when the plane stalled and nosedived to the ground from a height of about 150ft.

An official inquiry reported that the pilot alone was responsible for the crash. The commanding officer of the 40 Training Squadron RFC told his parents he was “a most cheerful and fearless officer and very promising pilot”.

Mr Anderson said: “Had he survived the war he would have applied for his war medals.

“He was a 19-year-old airman who was in action in 1915 and 1916 when he was still underage.”