2Lt Irving Banfield Corey DFC RAF – Observer – 103 Squadron - 1918
Irving Corey ( pictured above ) was born Kingscroft, Quebec on a farm in 1892.
Corey, a bank clerk, enlisted in the 87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Battalion in 1915 at Montreal. He has subsequently been transferred to the RAF. He trained as an observer in the UK with the newly formed 103 Squadron who were transferred to France in the spring of 1918.
Irving Corey middle. The man on the right smoking the cigarette is Captain Thomas.
Corey is credited with shooting down six German machines during that hectic summer of operations. This makes him an "Ace". He was the top scoring Observer with 103 Sqn along with 2nd Lt Charles Dance who also was also credited with six.
Irving Corey. Judging from the background building the photo was probably taken at Ronchin just after the Armistice.
His regular pilot was an American, Cptn Roy Dodds from Buffalo, New York who was held in high regard and became a Flight Commander. Both flew about 60 operations in just over 7 months – all in daylight. That is some going but not unusual for the RAF at that time.
Roy Dodds
Irving Corey was awarded a DFC in the 1919 Birthday Honours List and lived to a ripe old age passing away in 1976.
Written by David Fell with thanks to the Corey family - Photo credits to the Corey family and the Thomas collection.
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