Lives of the First World War

3,500 BE2s were built by over 20 different manufacturers The exact breakdown between the different models has never been produced although the BE2e was almost certainly the most numerous. By 1917 the BE2 was generally withdrawn from both front line and night fighter use. An incident illustrating the poor level of piloting skills with which new RFC pilots were sent to France in 1917 (and the level of popularity of the BE2e) is recorded by Arthur Gould Lee, then an RFC novice, in his book "No Parachute" On 19 May 1917 six pilots, newly arrived in France and still to be allocated to a squadron, were each given a new BE2e to ferry between RFC depots at St Omer and Candas. One crashed in transit, three crashed on landing and one went missing (the pilot was killed). Lee, the pilot of the only aircraft to arrive safely, wrote in a letter to his wife: I felt rather a cad not crashing too because everyone is glad to see death-trap like Quirks written off, especially new ones

Portrait

Pilot Wings

WW1

A truly remarkable and relevant photo of the departure of HMAT Persic (A34) with Thomas Bartle and members of the 37th Battalion bound for England taken on 3rd June 1916. (Australian War Memorial)

Single medal awarded to Thomas Bartle. Received his mother in 1922 along with a Memorial Plaque and Scroll. (see Service Record)