“By now, having flown a good deal with major Hewitt, I intensely disliked ever going up with anyone else, for I can assure you that I knew when I was flying with a safe pilot…… on December 30, 1915, I went up with a sergeant Bayetto to escort some B.E.2c’s of No.2 Squadron who were going to bomb Douai aerodrome. However the weather became very cloudy, and we returned west above the clouds. We were above the clouds for about 10 minutes, and so I told the pilot to go down, and as we saw the ground under the clouds we found we were over a slag heap half a mile from our aerodrome. I need not add that this was much more by luck than judgement.”
It is highly likely that Toné spent Xmas evening with James McCudden whose account follows:
“On that evening all the Sergeants in the squadron waited on the men at Xmas dinner, according to an old army custom and the men really did themselves very well. After the men had fed, we retired to our mess, and had our dinner, which was a great success, largely due to our kindly host and hostess, with whom we had our meals in our billet behind the squadron office at Auchel. After dinner we had the inevitable speech-making, at which “Fonso” was at his very best. He also recited a revised version of “Gunga Din” (his own), which family made us scream with laughter. Fonso also had a most extensive repertoire of drawing room stories and he was constantly on his feet most of the evening. Altogether the Xmas of 1915 at Auchel was, I think, one of the very best I have ever spent”
“On the 14th I went out with Sergeant Bayetto, a new pilot of No. 3 Squadron, to show him the lines and the principal landmarks. We were out for over half an hour, as there was not much doing on the line that morning.”
On 22/11/2915 Tone was transferred to No.3 Flying Squadron based at Auchel Aerodrome, France, commanded by Major D S Lewis DSO (No.3FS was formed in May 1912, moved to France 12/8/1914 and stayed there throughout the war. It moved to Auchel on 1/6/1915) [REF: 66FS bio – ambiguity re dates; see McCudden’s book]
Tone was briefly posted to No.1 Flying Squadron with the British Expeditionary Force in Bailleul, France under the command of Major Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferte. [REF: 66FS bio]
Tone Hippolyte Paul Bayetto of “Ye Olde Roses” Lime Grove Avenue, Eastcote Pinner Middlesex joined the General List on a short service commission (for the duration of the war) with the Royal Flying Corps. He was enlisted at South Farnborough on 26 April 1915 with Reg no 4808 (WO/339/56618).
The Royal Flying Corps was formed on the 13th April 1912 and comprised a Military Wing, Naval Wing, Central Flying School and the Royal Aircraft Factory. The Naval Wing split from the RFC on 1st July 1914 to become the Royal Naval Air Service (‘RNAS’), under the control of the Admiralty. On the 1st April 1918 the RFC merged with the RNAS to form the Royal Air Force (‘RAF’).
The RFC was a Corps of the Army, and thus had Army ranks, regulations and procedures. All of the initial personnel of the RFC Military Wing comprised officers and men who transferred from the Army, and the Army continued to be a significant source of personnel for the RFC, either by permanent transfers, secondment or temporary attachment (the latter categories applying particular to observers).
Officers could initially enter the RFC in two ways: by transfer from an Army Unit or by joining the Special Reserve. The latter were sometimes known as ‘civilian pilots’ as they generally had no military experience. Subsequently it was possible to join the RFC directly and be entered on the ‘General List’ and this was how Tone joined the RMC. Once the officers service in the RFC was over he resigned his commission. There was thus an advantage in joining the Army first and applying for a transfer to the RFC, in that once the RFC service was completed the officer would return to his Army unit for continued employment.
A new officer would normally be appointed as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant or Probationary 2nd Lieutenant and enter the Recruits Depot. He would be given ground training at one of the Schools of Instruction (primarily Reading and Oxford). If destined to be a pilot he would undertake further training and/or assessment at one of the private Flying Schools taken over by the RFC, the Central Flying School or one of the Reserve Aeroplane Squadrons (‘RAS’), later renamed Reserve Squadrons (‘RS’), then Training Squadrons (‘TS’), and subsequently merged into Training Depot Stations (‘TDS’). Alternatively he could be trained as an Observer or Balloon Officer. Officers undertaking ground duties would generally be appointed as Equipment Officers.
