Royal Flying Corps
Died 20th October 1917, age 34.
2nd Lt. Solomon was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 19 October 1883.
Before the War, he was a commercial traveller working for Magnus, Sanderson & Co., a motor importer. He enlisted on 22 November 1915, at the age of 32. His record states that he was 5′ 7″ tall.
He served in the New Zealand Cyclist Battalion and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
On 13 January 1916, he was promoted to Sergeant.
He served in Egypt, embarking with the 12th Reinforcements on 1 January 1916 and arriving in Egypt in June of that year. On 26 July 1916, he left Egypt for the UK, arriving at Southampton on 7 August 1918.
He then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a pilot under training and was commissioned on 19 August 1916. On 2 December 1916, he went to France with 45 Squadron. On 13 January, he was in hospital until late February 1917 and returned to the UK on 5 April 1917.
He is recorded as having flown 256 hours solo during the day and 12 hours solo at night.
2nd Lt. Solomon died when his aircraft, a Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b, crashed into the ground during a Zeppelin raid. His Observer was thrown clear and, though injured with a broken collarbone, survived. His casualty card states that his accident was ’caused by machine going on fire after crash during air raid.
Solomon was an experienced night flyer and had been a night flying instructor.
He was buried the day after his death; his Observer, despite his injury, was among those attending his funeral. Solomon came from a well-known and influential Jewish family.
2nd. Lt. Solomon has a Commonwealth War Graves Headstone. His original headstone featured a cross; this was later altered to reflect his Jewish faith.
