WW1 - Captain Lanoe George Hawker VC, DSO (1890-1916), was a British flying ace, with seven credited victories. This illustration captures an occassion on 25th July 1915, where Captain Hawker is in an unequal aerial battle with three German aeroplanes. Each German aeroplane is manned by a pilot and an observer, and armed with machine-guns. The first plane escapes, the second bursts into flames as it decends, and the third continues to attack, but is eventually driven down into the ground in British lines. Captain Hawker was rewarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry that a British and Commonwealth serviceman can achieve.