Dear reader another grippng instalment. Hold on to your hats, this is quite a tale. ( or so I’ve been told)

Fl Lt. William Cranfield “Dices with death” above the Western front in his Mk. 11 Bristol Boxbiter. April 1915.

The Bristol Box Biter

The Bristol Company is famous for developing one of the very first functioning fighter and reconnisance aircraft, the now legendary Bristol Box Kite. Developed as a trainer and obsolete, it was nonetheless rushed onto the Western Front and made an Important contribution to artillery observation. The type was immediately recognisable for its unusual engine sound, described as ‘slurping’ due to the sleeve valve pistons and wet sump lubrication. As a reconnisance aircraft it achieved some success in observing enemy deployment and troop dispositions in those important days following the stemming of the Hun onslaught, immediately after the battle of the Marne in 1914. However the utility of this aeroplane was short lived. The appearance of the eminent german fighter aces Oswald Boelke and Max Immelmann spelt DOOM for the sturdy but vulnerable Box kite. Unable to respond to the volley of Spandaus equipping the Focker and Albatross fighters, the Box Kites in the words of Immelmann, ‘vere easy prey’.

In an effort to maintain an offensive edge Box kites were adapted unsuccessfully with the then trusty Lee Enfield, and then in desperation a Stokes mortar mounted on the upper wing in an effort to blast the Hun from the sky. In a famous engagement, The Fighter Ace Oswald Boelke surprised a RFC officer above the trenches at Lille when he swooped down in his Focker eindecke. Flt. Lieut. William Cranfield RFC, fired his Stokes Mortar in frustration only to find the concussion blew a hole in the wing which allowed the Enfield to fall harmlessly through. Unarmed and slightly wounded he succeeded in countering the german attack by shouting in schoolboy german, “VE HAF VAYS OF MAKING YOU BAULK’, and ‘FOR YOU THE WAR IS OVER’, and when that failed, he pretended to suffer an epileptic fit before pretending to be dead. He knew that a German Officer would not condescend to shooting an unarmed lunatic English Officer, as such behaviour demonstrated the likelihood of nobility in his adversary. The wily but chivalrous german pilot circled round the unarmed stricken aircraft before performing a couple of Immelman’s and returning to base. Later in the day he returned and dropped a bottle of Bollinger addressed to “my gallant foe” Ft Lieut Cranfield RFC in appreciation’, Cranfield opened the bottle to find it was full of flat champagne. Inside a note in german, “Our recent encounter has left me flat, in tribute I share with you in the anticipation we meet again. Yours Oswald’. Such were the rights of chivalry.

Undaunted Cranfield set about upgrading his aircraft. This ambitious project became nothing short of an obsession, as he completely reconfigured the wings and fuselage, adding a reinforced cupola and strengthening of the Box Kite configuration. Famously he requested of the armourer; ‘I want to give this Box kite more bite’. The Armourer proceeded to upgrade the engine and installed ‘real bite’ with a brace of triple mounted Vickers guns attached to a ring mount above the engine. Adapted with a special flight control lever, the pilot was required to climb up onto the upper wing and maintain flight by strapping the lever to either right or left foot, whilst giving play with the machine guns. The act though requiring considerable skill and nicknames, “Toe in the Hole” was mastered by the pugnacious Cranfield.

Thus the ‘Bristol Box Biter’ was ready for service, nicknamed the ‘Lunging Licker’, with flames painted to the sides of the fuselage and the inclusion of red marker flags as the ‘Red River’ or in reference to the large engine air intakes, ‘The Flying Flange” it was truly a Box with Bite! With other conversions to the Box Kite the Box Biter squadron formed late October 1914 coined the motto; ’Will give the Hun a good lickin’!. Cranfield waited for the return, this time determined to settle the score for the honour of his squadron.

In due course Boelke returned in an Albatross. An immeasurably superior aircraft. Cranfield waited, fired and surprised himself when the weight of fire and subsequent recoil from his triple mounted vickers plunged him through the wings and to a heroic flyers death. In tribute Boelke dropped upon his rivals airfield a real bottle of Bollinger and the note, inscribed to my gallant foe, Flt. Lt. Cranfield RFC who whose bark, though feared was worse than his bite.

Bristol Boxbiter Specifications General Characteristics Crew: 2. Range: 150 miles Powerplant: 1 x Gnome Omega rotary piston engine, 50 hp (37kw) Performance Maximum speed: 86 mph,

Range: 150 miles Service ceiling; 4,500 ft

Rate of climb; 100 ft

Armament 1 x .303 Lee Enfield through wing 1 x Stokes Mortar 3 x .303 Vickers Gun on traversable mount

Operators RAAF, RAF