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Name: Gerald Pilditch
Military Cross (MC)
Country: South Africa
Rank: Lieutenant
Service: Royal Flying Corps
Royal Air Force
Units: 73
Victories: 5
Born: 27 October 1892
Place of Birth: Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa
Died: November 1956
Place of Death: Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa
 
A veteran of two world wars, Gerald Pilditch attended Pretoria Boys High School and was a member of the Harlequins Rugby Club. On the afternoon of 11 June 1918, American pilot J. H. Ackermann was wounded in a fight with six Fokker D.VIIs. Attempting to escape, he struggled desperately to evade the three enemy planes on his tail. Observing Ackermann's dilemma, Pilditch intervened with his Sopwith Camel, shooting down one of the Fokkers and driving off the other two.

AIR 76/404/214
WO 339/107332
 
Military Cross (MC)
T./2nd Lt. Gerald Pilditch, Gen. List and R.F.C.
   For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He engaged the enemy massed ready for an attack from a height of 300 feet, using up all his ammunition and scattering the enemy in all directions, inflicting very heavy casualties. Previously to this he had dived and fired on a hostile battery until he had silenced it, and had also destroyed an enemy triplane and a two-seater machine. His work has been of the highest order, and he has shown the greatest courage and energy in attacking ground targets.
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 22 Mar 1918 1510 73 Sopwith Camel (B2396) Fokker DR.I (OOC) Marteville
2 24 Mar 1918 1045 73 Sopwith Camel (B2396) LVG C (DES) Vermand
3 11 Apr 1918 1910 73 Sopwith Camel (D6462) Albatros D.V (OOC) Villers-Bret'x
4 21 May 1918 1910 73 Sopwith Camel (D6462) Fokker DR.I (OOC) Fleurbaix
5 11 Jun 1918 1350 73 Sopwith Camel (D6572) Fokker D.VII (DES) Rollot
 
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