Press Agency Rol British Aeronaut Ewc Perry Circa 1910, Silver Gelatin B and W Photography

Description

An original silver gelatin black and white photograph by Press Agency ROL Paris taken circa 1910 with British aeronaut E.W.C. … more An original silver gelatin black and white photograph by Press Agency ROL Paris taken circa 1910 with British aeronaut E.W.C. Perry. We see the aviator in an experimental machine from the beginnings of aviation.
Features:
Original silver gelatin print photograph unframed.
Press photograph.
Press agency: ROL Paris.
Photographer: Anonymous.
Title: E.W.C. Perry, British aviator circa 1910.
Provenance: Private collection.
Image Size: 4.69 in wide (11.8 cm) x 6.57 in high (16.6 cm) - Archivally matted in a 17 x 13 mat.
The ink stamp at the back reads ROL.
Hand-written French comment at the back: "Aéronaute anglais tué en France, E.W.C. Perry sous-lieutenant de réserve du corps des aviateurs anglais tué dans un accident le 16 aout 1914." (British aeronaut killed in France, E.W.C. Perry, second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps was killed in an accident on August 16th, 1914).
The piece will be shipped in a mat (17 x 13 in.) that fits a standard-sized frame.

Note: The Rol agency is a photographic reporting agency created in 1904 by the photographer Marcel Rol (1876-1905) and disappeared in 1937 due to its merger with the Meurisse and Mondial Photo Presse agencies.
The National Library of France holds 130,000 photographs from the Rol agency (collections relating to current affairs and sports). The Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget owns 27,905 photographs from the agency ( aeronautical fund).
(Credit: Wikipedia)

Note: Evelyn Walter Copland Perry (Dec 1890 - August 1914) is the first British airmen ever to die in a theatre of World War I.
The British Expeditionary Force arrived in France in mid-August 1914. Part of the force was the first overseas wartime contingent of the Royal Flying Corps. Sadly, two of London's first Great War casualties were among these airmen: E.W.C. Perry and H.E. Parfitt. Their deaths on 16 August were later part of a controversy over the attitude of the RFC to the pilot's safety.
The Royal Flying Corps was established as the aviation arm of the British Army in 1912 (the Royal Air Force only came into existence in 1918, combining the RFC and the Royal Naval Air Service). When the BEF set out to France, the RFC set out ahead of them, beginning their journey and assembly on 13 August. The serviceable aircraft of 2, 3, 4, and 5 Squadrons set out from the south of England.
The aircraft that did make it to France gathered at Amiens (which was to play a significant part in Britain’s war in later years). One of the pilots was 23-year-old Evelyn Walter Copland Perry, the only child of barrister Walter Copland and his wife Evelyn-Emma Perry. He was born in London and – after attending Cambridge University – returned to his home and began working at the Royal Aircraft Factory. While there, in 1911, he gained his Royal Aero Club certificate. He joined the Special Reserve of the Royal Flying Corps, from which he had been mobilized when Britain entered the Great War. After leaving the Royal Aircraft Company, Perry (or Mr. Copland Perry as he is known in some sources) went to Brooklands to work with Tommy Sopwith on his airplanes, then flew an Avro airplane to Portugal and tested aircraft for the Portuguese army. Returning to the UK, he began producing airplanes himself.
Perry wrote a letter home from Amiens in August 1914, full of his extreme enjoyment of the flights he had undertaken thus far in his war service (according to De Ruvigny's roll of honor). Leaving Amiens, he was accompanied by another Londoner, Herbert Edward Parfitt.
Perry and Parfitt were among the last to take off from Amiens on 16 August. As they took off in their BE8 (number 625), the airplane stalled at about 150 feet from the ground – losing speed from climbing too quickly or with too little power. The aircraft turned over on its side and fell to the ground, where it caught fire. Both men were killed. They were the first British airmen ever to die in a theatre of war; Perry was also the first British officer fatality of the war.
Flag-draped coffins were escorted by soldiers, senior officers, and members of the RFC in a full military funeral held in Amiens.
(Credit: Greatwarlondon website). less