“A cow, a blunderbuss, a domestic pet, a kitchen range with wings on, a threshing machine, a loutish, lumpish, heavy, clumsy old brute, a butt and a joke….” So air historian Oliver Stewart described the F.E.2d, but this “cow” whose two guns could shoot forward and backwards, also figured in one of the most courageous air actions of World War I.

Lieutenant W.E. Gower was an observer/gunner on an F.E.2d flying a solo reconnaissance mission over France. A lone airplane in the sky was a rarity by the winter of 1916-17, as both sides flew in fighting formations. But pilot Sergeant Thomas Mottershead was an exception. On his 33rd mission, a flock of German Albatros D.IIs attacked. The “Fee” fought against impossible odds. Mottershead soared and dived, giving Gower every opportunity to shoot their way out. But the Germans hit the Britisher’s gas tank. Sergeant Mottershead was literally sitting on fire. He miraculously kept his plane under control until he reached British lines. The only thing that kept him alive was Gower’s well-aimed fire extinguisher.

As the sergeant landed the plane, he was buried in the wreckage. Rescuers saved Gower, but Mottershead died of his injuries the next day. Sergeant Thomas Mottershead posthumously received the Victoria Cross. It was the first and only time that a British non-commissioned officer was awarded the nation’s highest decoration for an action in the air.