Wing Commander Gwilym Hugh Lewis (5 August 1897 – 18 December 1996) was a British flying ace during World War I. He was credited with 12 confirmed aerial victories. He went on to a very successful career as an insurance broker. Lewis was the next to last surviving British ace from the war, as well as the longest lived, dying eight months before his hundredth birthday. His wide range of friends included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, playwright Noël Coward, and fellow aces Stan Dallas, Mick Mannock, and George McElroy.
Early life and service
Born in Moseley, Birmingham, in 1897 to Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Lewis, he was educated at Marlborough College. He volunteered for the Northamptonshire Regiment for service early in World War I. On 10 September 1915, having trained at the Officers' Training Corps at the University of London, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant; however, he was not entitled to pay and allowances until the following 3 January. His first try at transferring to the Royal Flying Corps was refused because they had no openings. Lewis then procured £100 from his father for tuition, and put himself through private pilot's training at Hendon on a Grahame-White Boxkite. Lewis was awarded Aviators' Certificate No. 2116 on 27 November 1915. The RFC then accepted him and sent him to the Central Flying School at Upavon.
World War I aerial service
On 24 March 1916, Lewis was seconded to the First Garrison Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment. On 23 April 1916, he was appointed a flying officer. He would be one of the founding members of No. 32 Squadron RFC.
When 32 Squadron moved to France on 29 May 1916, Lewis flew a tired Airco DH.2 over the English Channel; he had four and a half hours solo flight experience. On 15 July he would help destroy a Fokker Eindekker for his first aerial victory. Two months later, on 22 September, he destroyed a Roland C.II over Bancourt for his first singlehanded victory.
Lewis was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain on 27 August 1917. He would not score again until late 1917, when he was assigned to 40 Squadron to train as a flight commander on Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5s. He began his training duties in September 1917. On 19 December 1917, he drove an Albatros D.III down out of control. He would drive another down a month later, on 19 January 1918. He would score nine more times in the next six months, including one triumph shared with his squadron leader, Major Stan Dallas. Lewis ran his personal tally to five German planes destroyed, six driven down out of control, as well as capturing an LVG reconnaissance plane on 7 July 1918 for his final win. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross during July.
Stan Dallas was not the only famous ace Lewis befriended; Mick Mannock invoked the rule of opposites to nickname the quiet Lewis as "Noisy". On Lewis's final day in France, at his farewell luncheon, Mannock pulled aside top Irish ace George McElroy to caution him about following victims down to within the range of German ground fire. Six days later, Mannock was killed in action by ground fire when he followed a falling German plane too close to earth; McElroy followed him five days later. Lewis had earlier lost his elder brother in aerial combat. Lewis returned to instructor duty in England to finish out the war. He was transferred to the unemployed list of the RAF on 21 January 1919.
Post World War I
Lewis came home from the war to share a cottage in Wargrave with some of his service friends; they were Noël Coward's audience for his reading of his first play, The Rat Trap. Lewis began his career in insurance with Sedgwick and Collins, brokers with Lloyd's of London. During 1919 and 1920, despite his resignation from flying, Lewis began writing about aviation safety while he began his career as an insurance broker. He also wrote Wings Over the Somme 1916–1918, his memoir of his war experiences. At some point during this time, Lewis also served as the Recorder of Chesterfield.