229925 Lt. Harry Noel Cornforth Robinson MCRoyal Flying Corps 17 Sqdn. from:Hartlepool Harry Robinson was the eldest son of railway clerk Henry and his wife Dorothy, and was born on 25th December 1898. Harry was educated at Mr Scott’s High School for Boys in York Road, Hartlepool and at Durham Grammar School.
He joined the Royal Flying Corps in March 1916 and by August, was flying over the German lines on the Western front in a Sopwith Pup with No. 46 Squadron, the squadron was soon re-equipped with Sopwith Camels. In May 1917 he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps and, following confirmation of his rank, became a flying officer in July 1917 with No. 17 Squadron. In December 1917 Harry scored his first aerial victory, capturing a German reconnaissance aircraft. In his second victory, on 11th March 1918, he drove down a German Albatros DV. Harry secured six further victories between the 21st and 24th March and was appointed a flight commander, moving to No. 70 Squadron. He took two more victories in April and May. He was awarded a Military Cross which was gazetted on 3rd of May for showing “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty†in an aerial attack, while running out of petrol.
Harry remained in the RAF after the war and saw active service in Iraq in 1921, where he won the Distinguished Flying Cross. He went on to become a lecturer and instructor in bombing and gunnery at RAF Eastchurch in Kent, but fell ill in late 1925. Harry died on 2nd June 1926, at a sanatorium in Norfolk. He was just 27 years old and left his wife Erica and a daughter.
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