away from the remainder of the formation to come to its aid. 'They fired an immense amount of ammunition, but were so far away that it had no effect.' In their haste to come to the aid of their companion, the three enemy machines overshot the DH2 and went down out of the action. Rees closed on the lone twoseater and fired a drum into it. 'After about 30 rounds a big cloud of blue haze came out of the nacelle in front of the pilot. The machine turned and wobbled, and I last saw him down over the Lines under control. It looked either as if a cylinder was pierced, knocked off, or else the petrol tank punctured.'
Rees then saw that the five remaining enemy machines were in a tight bunch and made towards them. These also opened fire on the DH2 at long range and Rees returned their fire, aiming into the centre of the formation in an effort to disperse it. His tactic was successful. The enemy formation scattered 'in all directions.' Rees saw the enemy leader and two others flying west, with the intention of carrying on with their mission, and he gave chase, rapidly overhauling them. As he came up to the lower of the enemy machines, crewed by Staffelführer, Leutnant Zimmerman and his pilot, Leutnant Ernst Wendler, it turned sharply, and dropped a bomb, then Zimmerman opened fire at the DH2 from long range. Rees closed the distance, but before he could open fire a bullet hit him in the upper leg, temporarily paralysing it. Despite his wound, Rees fired a drum of Lewis at the Roland, but with his leg still numb he had no control of his rudder and the DH2 swept 'backwards and forwards'. Rees was within ten yards of the enemy machine before he stopped firing, but his fire had wounded Wendler and fatally wounded Zimmerman, who was lying back in his cockpit, firing his gun straight up into the air.
Having expended his drum, Rees pulled out his pistol, but in his haste he dropped it and it fell down into the front of the nacelle, by his feet. Rees turned away and found that feeling in his leg had returned. Seeing that the leader of the German formation was now flying east towards his own lines, Rees again gave chase. 'I got within long range of him. He was firing an immense amount of ammunition. Just before he reached the lines, I gave him one drum. I was using the Beliene sight fixed to the gun, but as the sun had only just risen it was not shining on the cross wires. Even without the cross wires the tracers appeared to be going very near the target, simply through looking through the tube which is aligned with the axis of the gun.' Rees fired a full drum at the twoseater before giving up the chase; he could not climb to its height and it was impossible to close the range.
Having completely dispersed the enemy formation and forcing them to return to their own lines, Rees turned for base. His leg was now becoming very painful,
but he made a good landing at Treizennes and taxied the DH2 to the sheds, where he climbed painfully from his cockpit and sat on the grass to await the arrival of transport to take him to a casualty clearing station. Gwilym Lewis, a young pilot in the squadron, was there and later wrote home: 'I told you he was the bravest man in the world. He landed in the usual manner, taxied in. They got the steps for him to get out of his machine. He got out and sat on the grass and calmly told the fellows to bring him a tender to take him to hospital. I am afraid he has got a very bad wound, although he is lucky not to have had an artery in his leg shot, as I understand he would never have got back if he had. Of course, everyone knows the Major is mad. I don't think he was ever more happy in his life than attacking those Huns. He said he would have brought them all down, one after the other, if he could have used his leg. He swears they were youngsters on their first bombing lesson!! I don't know how he does it!'
Rees had fought these actions against Kampfstaffel 14 at 9,000 feet, the German machines initially being 2,000 feet above him. He reported that the enemy crews followed their usual tactics of circling and firing at about forty-five degrees between their tailplanes and wings. The Kampfstaffel lost two aeroplanes in the fight: the machine which Rees had sent down with blue smoke pouring its nose, and the third machine he had attacked, crewed by Wendler and Zimmerman. Despite his wound, Wendler had managed to crash land the Roland close by the little hamlet of Petit Hantay, near La Bassée, but Zimmermann was dead in his cockpit.
After recovering from his wound Wendler became a fighter pilot and commanded Jasta 17 from June 1917 until he was shot down on 8 October, crashing behind the German lines. It was the end of his active combat flying in the Great War.
Unfortunately, Rees' leg wound was more serious than at first supposed; he had to relinquish command of 32 Squadron and after treatment in No2 Canadian Clearing Hospital, he was invalided home to England.
The award of a Victoria Cross for Rees' action was gazetted on 5 August 1916 and Rees received his medal at the hands of King George V on December 14.
Leaving the investiture in a taxi to avoid the press camera men loudly
demanding his picture, Rees shouted, 'Not if you were to give me a thousand pounds.'
After being part of the Balfour commission to the USA in April 1917, Rees stayed on after the Mission had left and lectured throughout the country, returning to England in January 1918. On 7 March 1918, he was given
command of No.1 Fighting School of Aerial Fighting at Ayr in Scotland, a post he held for the remainder of the war. After the Armistice, Rees remained in the RAF, retiring as Group Captain Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees VC, OBE, AFC in 1931. After living in retirement in the Bahamas he volunteered for the RAF at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, but at fifty-five was
considered to be too old. Rees returned to England and the RAF in 1940, relinquishing his rank of Group Captain for that of Wing Commander. After service in the Middle East and Africa, again as a Group Captain, Rees finally retired and returned to the Bahamas, where he died on 28 September 1955.