Who am I?

This is one of the rare photos of the young Reginald Farnsworth Clyde Archibald Scythe-Smith, formerly of the 17 Hunting Hussars Royal Footballers (in honor of which he constantly wore the shin guards in the 17th colors of beige/cream with an off-white stripe), he was nicknamed by the fellow pilots of 13 Naval Squadron, RNAS “Quartermane “ for obvious reasons.

In late 1914, he was seconded to balloon barge HMS Thaddeus Lowe, outside the Rufiji Delta in the first attempt to find the cruiser Konigsberg hiding there in. Using a Royal observation balloon last inflated in the closing months of the Boar War (1900) Quartermane was lofted 2000 meters above the delta on the eastern monsoon.

Quartermane, was sending a telegraph message – “I sotted a shi” - when the cable parted and the Balloon was last seen headed west at a rapid pace. He was never seen again. It was the only time he was ever mentioned in dispatches. (As Quartermane’s Morse code was exceedingly bad, the barge Captain interpreted the half message as “I’ve got to sh*t” and never passed it on.)

Note: Recent evidence has arisen that a Quartermane has been mentioned in native oral histories referring to the legendary King Solomon’s Mines but this is just here-say, in this Author’s opinion.

Irregardless, seriously,
Captn Tommy

Your right, it is here-say; just like Big-Foot slings beer. Quartermane was a fictional character from the 19th century novel 'King Solomon's Mines', published well prior to the Great War.

Your guess on identity may be right, though. A guy with that many names deserves a nice photo

Uh no.

Uh. . .no.

Ok I guess I have stumped you on this one. He is French.

Hi Stephen

Actually, it's one of very few I've held off on answering! LOL! I'm usually stumped - but going by the many pics on the Internet it's Marcel Pierre Viallet (sometimes spelled with one "l".

http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille053.htm

All the best

Rowan

Yes it is Sous Lieutenant Marcel Pierre Viallet. He was a World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories.

Viallet travelled in his youth, but returned home to France as World War I began. He immediately joined the cavalry, but was seriously wounded in late 1914. While in hospital, he applied for a transfer to aviation. On 23 February 1915, he started training; on 12 November, he received Military Pilot's Brevet No. 2533. He then served as a test pilot on Caudrons. From there, he was assigned to Escadrille C53, having already logged 376 flight hours. On 28 April 1916, he scored his first win, over a Fokker Eindekker. Two days later, he flew a successful escort mission despite having his controls cut. A Medaille Militaire followed, on 22 May 1916.

In June 1916, he was reassigned to Escadrille N67. He would run up eight more victories there, including one shared with Georges Flachaire.

Postwar, he remained in the military. He became ill during the Rif Campaign in Morocco, and died on 21 September 1925.