James Belgrave

Captain James Dacres Belgrave (27 September 1896 – 13 June 1918) was a British World War I flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories. Family background James Dacres Belgrave was born in Kensington, London, the second son of the barrister and writer Dalrymple James Belgrave and his wife Isabella Richardson. His older brother, Sir Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, also served in the Army during the First World War, and was later advisor to the rulers of Bahrain from 1926 until 1957. His grandfather was Commander Thomas Belgrave, RN, of Kilworth, Leicester, who had married Charlotte, the daughter of Rear-Admiral James Richard Dacres, who had in turn married Arabella Boyd, daughter of General Sir Hew Dalrymple. Military service Belgrave attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on 16 December 1914. He was wounded in action in November 1915, and was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 February 1916. On 27 October 1916 he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, serving in 45 Squadron, flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter. He shot down six enemy aircraft between February and May 1917.