A First War Memorial Cross to 2nd Lieutenant Bawlf; No. 202 Squadron

Footnote: David Leland "Barney" Bawlf was born on June 28, 1899 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of Nicholas Bawlf and Katherine Bawlf, one of eight children to the couple. The young Bawlf was a Student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. during 1913 and 1914. His father, Nicholas Bawlf, was a wealthy grain merchant in Winnipeg but died suddenly in 1914, forcing the young Bawlf to leave university and return home to Canada. David Leland Bawlf signed his Attestation Paper (1250090) with the 76th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery on September 11, 1916 in Winnipeg, stating his birth year as 1898, which actually made him underage at 17, naming his next-of-kin as his widowed mother, Katherine Bawlf of Winnipeg, stating that he had no previous military service, that he was not married and that his trade was that of Student. His religion was Roman Catholic. He left with the draft for Petawawa on September 17th and was promoted to the rank of Bombardier on October 1st. In the new year, he was promoted to Acting Corporal on January 6, 1917 and then to Corporal on February 16th. Bawlf embarked Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 17, 1917, arriving in Liverpool, England on the 29th. He was taken on strength of the Reserve Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery at Shorncliffe on the 30th, reverting to the rank of Gunner. Two weeks later, he was transferred to the 5th Battery Reserve Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery on May 13, 1917, then transferred to the 2nd Brigade, Canadian Reserve Artillery on absorption on June 22nd, followed by a posting to the regimental depot on August 29th. Now age 18, Bawlfwas medically examined at Witley Camp on September 7, 1917 and was discharged in the British Isles at No. 2 Canadian Discharge Depot in London, on September 14th, having been appointed to a commission in the Royal Naval Air Service, his "Military Character" noted as "Good". The Pensions and Claims Board stated that upon his appointment to the RNAS, he was "not to be granted a pension". He was appointed as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temporary) in the RNAS, then appointed as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temporary), serving in No. 2 Wing RNAS in 1916, with No. 210 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps in 1918 and then with No. 3 (Naval) Squadron RNAS, which would become No. 203 Squadron, Royal Air Force upon the merger of the RNAS and RAF on April 1, 1918. No. 203 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps would become the most decorated British Squadron during the war. David Leland Bawlf joined his older brother, and future Ace, Louis Drummond Bawlf with No. 203 Squadron. The older Louis Drummond Bawlf was born on November 19, 1895 in Winnipeg and signed his Officers' Declaration Paper as a Lieutenant with the 144th Infantry Battalion "Winnipeg Rifles", on February 22, 1916 in Winnipeg, at the age of 20, naming his next-of-kin as his mother, Katherine Bawlf, stating that he was with an active militia, the 90th Winnipeg Rifles, that he had been a Captain and Adjutant and had attended St. Thomas Military Academy in Saint Paul, Minnesota for seven years, that his religion was Roman Catholic and that his occupation was that of College Student. He embarked Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 18, 1916 aboard the S.S. Olympic, arriving in Liverpool, England on the 25th. Louis Drummond Bawlf resigned his temporary commission on transfer to the Royal Naval Air Service, effective December 23, 1916, the announcement appearing in the Third Supplement to the London Gazette 30491 of Tuesday, January 22, 1918, on Thursday, January 24, 1918, page 1177. He was appointed as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temporary) in the RNAS (With seniority dated 1917), then appointed as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temporary) in the RNAS. The older Bawlf was initially transferred to the 18th Reserve Battalion on January 12, 1917, then posted to No. 3 (Naval) Wing (later No. 203 Squadron, RAF) in the Spring of 1917, where he would be appointed as a Flight Commander (Captain) and score five victories as a Sopwith Camel pilot (four while with 3 (Naval) Wing, RNAS: July 27, 1917, February 18, 1918, March 22, 1918 and March 24, 1918; and one while with No. 203 Squadron, Royal Air Force on July 22, 1918), designating him as an Ace. He was to share his fourth victory with Canadian Ace, Flight Commander Frederick Carr Armstrong, the latter's thirteenth and final victory while aboard a Sopwith Camel, downing an Albatros D.V at Vaux on March 24, 1918. Flight Commander Armstrong would die the next day, shot down south of Ervilliers while on Special Patrol. Captain Louis Drummond Bawlf's younger brother, 1250090 2nd Lieutenant David Leland "Barney" Bawlf, No. 203 Squadron, Royal Air Force, died on April 21, 1918, at the age of 18, when he was Killed in Action over the Western Front, when his service aircraft, a Sopwith Camel was "smashed by German fire, but fell with him back of the French lines", spinning out of control and crashing. The announcement of his death appeared in the The New York Evening News on Thursday, May 2, 1918. He is buried in Aire Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Grave Reference: II. F. I. and is commemorated on page 583 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. His Memorial Cross was issued to his mother, Katherine Bawlf. Sub-Flight Lieutenant David Leland “Barney” Bawlf was the first Georgetown University alumnus to be killed in action during the First World War. After the death of his brother David Leland "Barney" Bawlf, Louis Drummond Bawlf returned to Canada on furlough and on September 12, 1918, he married Miss Jean Mae McGinnis in Montreal, Quebec. He would survive the war and was demobilized, later to serve with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He died on August 22, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 70.