Orders, Decorations and Medals

An important Great War C.B.E. group of five awarded to Wing Captain J. D. Mackworth, Royal Naval Air Service, late Royal West Surrey Regiment, a 1912-vintage aircraft and airship pilot of the Military and Naval Wings of the fledgling R.F.C., who went on to command the first ever kite-balloon ship fitted out by any Navy - off Gallipoli - pioneering work that resulted in him being recommended for a D.S.O.: indeed it was Mackworth who suggested to his seniors that a balloon could be flown successfully from a ship in the first place

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) Commander’s 1st type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; 1914 Star, with clasp (Flt. Commr., R.N.A.S.); British War and Victory Medals (Wg. Capt., R.N.A.S.); French Legion of Honour, Officer’s breast badge, gold, silver-gilt and enamel, this last with one chipped arm, otherwise good very fine and better (5) £4000-5000

C.B.E. London Gazette 7 June 1918.

French Legion of Honour London Gazette 10 October 1918.

John Dolben Mackworth was born in June 1887, the seventh son of Colonel Sir Arthur Mackworth, C.B., Bt., of Derbyshire, and was educated at Corpus Christi, Oxford.

Originally commissioned into the Royal West Surrey Regiment, in September 1909, he qualified for his aviator’s certificate (No. 209) in a Bristol Biplane at Brooklands in April 1912 and joined the “Military Wing” of the fledgling Royal Flying Corps in the following month. That autumn, inspite of poor weather conditions, he quickly made his mark in the Wing’s official manoeuvres, being among a handful of officers who were cited for a number of ‘magnificent flights’. Moreover, in July 1913, he became just the seventeenth man to qualify for the newly created ‘Ballooning & Airship’ certificate.

Appointed C.O. of No. 1 Kite Balloon Section, R.N.A.S.

Appointed a Flight Commander in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914, he served ‘on the left flank of Allied lines with Colonel Maitland’s balloon detachment (Nieuport Sector)’ that October, in addition to ‘visiting France for short periods in November and December, and in February 1915’ (his service record refers). But it was to be his next appointment that catapulted him into the annals of British Naval aviation, for in March 1915, he set forth for Gallipoli in command of No. 1 Kite Balloon Section, and 97 ‘balloon personnel’, the whole aboard the ex-Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Company’s vessel Manica.

This then the first ever kite balloon ship fitted out by any Navy, and at Mackworth’s own suggestion, for it was he who had acquired a brace of ‘creditable imitations of the Parseval-Sigsfeld balloon’ from the French just as the Admiralty received a telegram from the Vice-Admiral, Dardanelles, ‘imploring the despatch of a kite balloon to enable to locate the enemy’s guns’. As it happened, Mackworth was at the Admiralty that day, and promptly suggested to Their Lordships that his recently acquired “sausages” were just the job, especially since he was convinced he could launch them from a specially fitted out ship. In the absence of anything better, they agreed, and ‘three weeks from that date the balloon ship Manica sailed. She was a tramp steamer of some 3500 tons, a sister to the notorious Barralong, and at the time of the conversation just recorded [with Their Lordships] was unloading manure in the Manchester canal’ (so states his fascinating, modest and amusing history of “The First Naval Kite Balloon Section” published in Blackwood’s Magazine in April 1927; and subsequently re-reprinted in The Gallipolian, Spring 1996). The same source continues:

‘As the manure came out, the foremast followed it over the side; the fore deck was cleared to provide a balloon platform, wind screens were rigged, high pressure gas cylinders put aboard and coupled up with machine like a huge coffee pot for making the hydrogen. Simultaneously the after-holds were gutted and converted to troop decks, the whole of this work being carried out with great energy by the firm of Grayson at Birkenhead.

Meanwhile a site for a training station had been found at Roehampton Polo Club and there the first balloon was unpacked and dubiously inspected. At a casual glance it looked hideously complicated, an affair of huge air funnels and balloonets, automatic valves, parachutes, and sails, and a wonderful tangle of cordage. But gradually, with the help of a French sergeant, its mysteries were revealed, and, fed with gas and carefully held, it arose and sat erect, looking owlish but reasonably docile, and slowly flapping its side sails like a pair of vast foolish ears. From the hedges and highrows of life streamed in a band of adventurers destined to snatch what smatterings of training they could in the time available, and take the field as the 1st Kite Balloon Section ... This gave more trouble than might have been supposed, for odd things were wanted; and even wives had to be pressed into the service before the equipment was complete. However, it was done, and late one night the section left Roehampton for foreign service, pursued by a consignment of tropical helmets which had arrived too late for inclusion in the baggage ... ’

Makes first shipborne balloon ascent

And so it was that the Manica arrived off Mudros on 9 April 1915, but not before Mackworth had taken to her balloon for a trial launch, south of Cape Matapan:

‘The main difficulty that was anticipated lay in the behaviour of the balloon when close down to the ship. Once away and riding to its cable there would be little difference between working on land or at sea; but while on shore there is plenty of space for actual landing, at sea this has to be accomplished on a deck space of some 90 by 30 feet; and as the balloon is over 80 feet long there is not much space for contingencies. Moreover, at low altitudes the air is very disturbed, behaving, in fact, like surf on the shore, so that the manoeuvres of the last hundred feet may be compared to beaching a boat through the breakers; dives, plunges, and very violent swings having all to be reckoned with.

It was therefore with some anxiety that the Manica’s crew began their first trial. Every available man stood round the balloon, and when full of gas it was allowed to rise by the nose till it reached its normal flying angle, and held fast by the guys while the basket was toggled on. The ship was kept stern on to the wind, steaming about five knots. The first part of the experiment was entirely successful. The C.O. [Mackworth] and another officer entered the basket, and when sure that every one was ready, gave the order to let go and veer quickly. The lift of the gas carried the balloon clear before any unpleasant things could happen, and two minutes later the ship had become a beetle, crawling on the limitless blue plate, and the observers were looking down a long shining curve of steel cable, while the wind of the Aegean blew softly in their faces.

Up the telephone wire came a thin voice inquiring how they did. The C.O. replied that they did very well, and being satisfied that all was in order, proposed that they should forthwith attempt the more ticklish business of return. From the winch below issued a tiny plume of smoke, and a gentle lurch told them that they were already being wound in. Overhead, the balloon dipped its nose condescendingly, and the sails on its flanks began to flap in the ascending stream of air. Beneath its belly gaped a funnel, swallowing the breeze to compensate for the contracting gas, while from the tail-bridle the steadying parachutes stood out in a stiff unyielding line, like a row of overturned umbrellas.

These last caused trouble, for they resisted all efforts to haul them in, and, the telephone failing at the critical moment (as telephones do), the order to stop miscarried. A moment later the lowest of the parachutes struck the water, filled, and began to tow the balloon towards the stern of the ship. It reared upright, and the basket was thrown against its belly, while men jumped in vain for the handling guys as they swept the deck. The C.O. recovered from the swoop, to find himself looking straight down the funnel, and it seemed but a matter of seconds before the balloon would be either ripped to pieces against the bridge, or set on fire by the smoke-stack. Fortunately the First Officer of the Manica was a man of action, and had already banged the telegraph over to full astern. Just in time the propeller sent a whirl of white water forward, which carried the parachute with it, and released the pull. The balloon surged upward, and the landing party secured the guys. Once held, it was brought panting to the deck with little further trouble.

Five minutes later it was up again with a different arrangement of trip line on the parachutes. This time it was a complete success, and before dusk every necessary trial had been completed. Manica arrived in Mudros harbour with her balloon ready for immediate service ... ’

Into action

Immediately summoned aboard H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, Mackworth was quizzed by Admiral de Robeck, who was anxious to carry out an operational trial of the balloon as soon as possible. Thus, ten days later, the good ship Manica went into action, her balloon spotting for the guns of the cruiser Bacchante. Mackworth continues:

‘Manica and Bacchante were ordered to leave Mudros at night, and to creep up to the Peninsula just before dawn, and engage any suitable target that might be found. The chief interest of this trial lay in its unexpectedness. The enemy were not aware of the presence of a balloon ship, and had taken no special precautions against being overlooked.The consequence was that when Monica put up her balloon, the first sight which greeted the observers was a sleeping camp, neatly arranged in a dip in the ground, out of sight of Bacchante but within easy range of her guns. Through their excellent field-glasses they could see an occasional dot moving about, but for the most part the camp was not yet astir. If there were sentries, they doubtless regarded the distant balloon hanging in the sky as a harmless form of amusement for the jaded British, and saw no connection between it and the long guns of the Bacchante which were nuzzling toward them.

But the boom of the cruiser’s forward turret opened their eyes, and a rude awakening followed when the top of the hillock some hundred yards beyond the camp was hurled into the air. No reveille ever blown commanded so instant a response. Every tent burst into life,and the ground was soon swarming with running specks. A second shot burst on the northernmost fringe of the camp and third right in the midst of the tents. Bacchante had the range to a nicety, and began to fire salvoes of 6-inch.

A scene of indescribable confusion followed. Tents were rent to pieces and flung into the air, dust spouted in huge fans and columns, and brightly through the reek could be seen flashes of bursting shells. Like ants from an overturned nest, the little brown dots swarmed and scattered. Across the plain galloped a few terrified mules, and in an incredibly short time the wreckage was complete.

Of the once orderly camp nothing remained but torn earth and twisted canvas, and when the smoke cleared away, no movement was to be seen. The trial was simple but convincing. Manica signalled “Cease fire”, and lumbered home behind her consort, metaphorically wagging her tail ... ’

Gallipoli

So impressed was Admiral de Robeck by the success of this encounter, that he insisted Mackworth and the Manica remain in the relative safety of the waters off Mudros, thereby ensuring their future participation in the forthcoming landings at “Anzac Cove” that April. And on that momentous occasion she once more lent valuable support to the “big guns” of the Navy, so much so that Turkish artillerymen became reluctant to break cover. Mackworth continues:

‘As long as the light held, the balloon was kept busy, and by the end of the first day it had become pretty clear to the Turks that to use their artillery from any place where it could be seen was to invite a swift and crushing retort. In later days this became more and more apparent, the guns ceasing firing whenever the balloon ascended. Our own troops on shore, coming to recognise this, used to ask for the balloon to go up so as to give them a chance to get their washing done in peace ... The consequence was that for several weeks after the landing, the Manica’s existence was a kind of observer’s heaven, for hardly an important firing operation was undertaken without her help. The Queen Elizabeth made especial use of her, and she was generally to be seen lumbering behind the huge warship like a faithful dog ... The accuracy of the great battleship’s shooting was uncanny. Nine times out of ten it sufficed to give the error of the first two shots for the third one to find the target, though the latter was scarcely ever visible from the ship. What the Turks thought of her fearful projectiles can only be imagined. The 15-inch shells weighed as much as a lorry, and even at ten miles’ distance seemed to burst with the force of a volcano, causing two great horns of flame to spout hundreds of feet into the air, and reducing everything around into cosmic dust ... ’

Luckily, however hard they tried, the Turks were unsuccessful in their efforts to bring Mackworth, his fellow observers and the infamous balloon down:

‘The enemy inevitably laid their troubles at the door of the balloon, for day after day their one serviceable aeroplane came over to attack it, while if Manica came within range of their guns (which, to be truthful, she very seldom did) they belched away their slender stock of ammunition at her without regard to any other targets ... ’

But there was at least one close call:

‘This was when working with the Prince George at the mouth of the Straits, Manica lay within range of the Asiatic shore, and was anchored, for greater steadiness, as the current was considerable. During the lull in the firing the observers noticed two howitzers being dragged into position opposite the ship, but being occupied with the affairs of the Prince George, was unable to protest. The situation was not entirely to their liking, for, apart from the balloon itself, the ship was full of high-pressure hydrogen tubes, and if hit, would probably go off like a gigantic bomb. They viewed the preparations on shore with a doubtful eye.

The next item was provided by the usual aeroplane, which seized the occasion to pay its daily visit, and deposited five bombs, which straddled the balloon, but fortunately did no damage. Manica replied with the Caesar’s gun, and missed by several thousand yards. Shortly afterwards the first howitzer opened fire, and the shell passed over the ship, to be followed by a second one which fell short, establishing a “bracket”, which, as most people know, is all that a gunner desires.

Under these circumstances a message from Prince George that she had finished her practice was more than welcome, and Manica prepared to weigh anchor, only to find that one of the flukes was caught in a submarine cable, which was dragged to the surface but obstinately refused to part. The howitzers lobbed their shells closer, while the ship, her engines full astern, tugged at the wire cable like a dog at a lead. Evidently it was but a question of moments till something happened. The anchor stood taut from the bows, and the cable, tense as a bow-string, strained against it.

The only escape seemed to be for some one to climb out along the anchor chain and cut the hawser, but this would have involved fairly certain destruction, for when the cable parted, the 10-ton anchor would crash back against the bows of the ship and mangle its rider. Still, it would have had to be tried but for the resourcefulness of the spotting officer. The latter seized a rifle, and, spreading himself out on the forecastle head, deliberately shot the cable away in seven successive rounds. As the last strand parted, the anchor smashed back against the ship with a reverberating clang, and Manica was free. Released from her dangerous position, she lost no time in backing away, and gained the open sea, pursued by the shells of the disappointed howitzers.’

But it was not just the Turks who were playing close attention to the Manica and her balloon, for the transparent success of her employment in the Gallipoli campaign led to wider implications:

‘The Vice-Admiral had seen enough to convince him of the Manica’s value. Indeed, from this moment until the end of the war, he never ceased to urge the employment of kite balloons on every occasion possible, and it was largely due to his personal influence that they came to be carried by the actual ships of the Grand Fleet ... ’

The Manica continued to lend ‘highly valuable service’ until mid-September, when she returned home for a refit by Cammell, Laird & Company, work that included a replacement balloon platform, additional firepower and facilities for operating a seaplane. Mackworth, meanwhile, reported to the Admiralty, where his expertise in kite balloon ships was now much sought after, and was recommended for the D.S.O., but a requested ‘summary and appreciation’ of his work in the Manica never reached the appropriate authority, as a result of which no further action was taken (his service record refers). He did, however, receive further advancement to the acting rank of Wing Captain in December 1917, was awarded the C.B.E. in the following year, and served latterly on the Staff of the newly established Royal Air Force, in the rank of Temporary Colonel.