Ralph Gordon MacAloney
MIA while serving at South Shields Seaplane Base
MacAloney was a Temporary Flight Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service from Canada. He is one of only two fatalities of men stationed at the South Shields Seaplane Base. He was flying a mission over the Farne Islands when his plane went down only three days after he was posted at the station. His entry in the Admiralty’s Register of Officers’ Services notes that a carrier pigeon was found on 24th November 1917 at Robin Hoods Bay with the message “S’plane sinking, will float a little longer, MacAloney.” He was declared to be presumed drowned on 22nd.
Sources:
TNA, ADM 273/13/104
Civil Parish: South Shields
Birth date: 1893
Death date: 1917
Armed force/civilian: Navy
Residence: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (1901, 1911 Canadian censuses)
Organisation membership: Royal Naval Air Service
Family: Father: John MacAloney;
Mother: Mary MacAloney;
Siblings: Charles W MacAloney, Catherine MacAloney, Frederick R MacAloney, Jessica MacAloney, Henry J MacAloney, Mary L MacAloney, Mary L MacAloney, Phillipa MacAloney
(1901, 1911 Canadian censuses)
Military service:
Crystal Palace: Mar 1917 [Royal Naval Divisional Depot]
Eastbourne: Apr 1917
Cranwell: Jun 1917
Killingholme Seaplane Institute: Jul 1917
Clapshot: Sep 1917
South Shields Seaplane Base: Nov 1917
(AIR 76/311)
Gender: Male
Contributed by Durham County Record Office