Valentine Collins

Lieutenant Valentine St. Barbe Collins (2 January 1894 – 2 September 1918) was a World War I British flying ace credited with ten aerial victories who served with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force. Background Valentine St. Barbe Collins, son of Colonel Charles Bury Collins, CMG DSO (RE), and his wife Etheldred St. Barbe Collins, was born on 2 January 1894 in Bermuda. He studied at Wellington College, built as a national monument to the Duke of Wellington, in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. In June 1916, his father, then a lieutenant colonel, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order; however, he died the following year, on 1 March 1917, at or near Dar es Salaam, East Africa. He was with the Corps of Royal Engineers and part of the East African Expeditionary Force stationed at Quetta in India. Military career Valentine Collins joined the Royal Flying Corps in October 1916. He served with the RFC Special Reserve. He was posted first to No. 45 Squadron, but was injured on 29 November 1916. In 1917, he served with No. 48 Squadron in France, before his return to France in December 1917. After 1 April 1918 merger of the Royal Flying Corps with the Royal Naval Air Service, he served with No. 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Lieutenant Collins is credited with ten aerial victories, all as an observer. The first three were with No. 48 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the next seven were with No. 22 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Collins scored all of his victories from a Bristol F.2b, a two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, also known as a Bristol Fighter.