Old Eastbournian Lionel Rees, Royal Flying Corps, was awarded the Victoria Cross. He single handedly attacked a group of ten enemy aircraft, and damaged or accounted for three. In the action, he was wounded in the thigh, which hospitalised him for some months. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the RAF until his retirement in 1931, when he presented his medals to the school. He rejoined the RAF in the Second World War and served, aged 52, in north Africa. He later sailed the Atlantic single handed and built a home in the Bahamas, where he married and raised three children
The son of an army officer, Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees attended Eastbourne College before entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Obtaining a commission in 1903, he entered the Royal Garrison Artillery where he earned a reputation as a superb marksman. In 1912, he learned to fly at his own expense, receiving his pilot's certificate in January 1913. After serving with the West African Frontier Force, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in August 1914, becoming an instructor at Upavon. Flying the Vickers F.B.5 in 1915, he saw action with 11 Squadron before assuming command of 32 Squadron in January 1916. On 1 July 1916, Rees encountered ten enemy bombers while on patrol in an Airco D.H.2. Attacking alone, he drove down two of the enemy aircraft. While attacking another, his Lewis gun ran dry. Before mounting a fresh drum of ammunition, he pulled a revolver only to lose it somewhere in the cockpit. Badly wounded in the leg, Rees turned away as the two-seater retreated back across the lines. For his actions that day, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Rees retired from the Royal Air Force as a Group Captain in 1931 and moved to the Bahamas. Birth - Jul. 31, 1884 Death - Sep. 28, 1955 Burial - Nassau War Cemetery Nassau, Bahamas http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7723731
He's on this photograph ... but I don't know which one he is ...... 1900 The first rugby team contained a future England international (Douglas Lambert), a Cambridge blue (Jack Young) and a Victoria Cross holder (Lionel Rees)
