Kelly's in uniform / The British Army - Capt. Thomas Joseph Kelly

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Capt. Thomas Joseph Kelly; Royal Flying Corps and Special Services. WW 1

General characteristics B.E 2 of the type flown by Capt Kelly. Crew: Two, pilot and observer Length: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m) Height: 11 ft 1½ in (3.39 m) Wing area: 371 ft² (34.8 m²) Empty weight: 1,370 lb (623 kg) Loaded weight: 2,350 lb (1,068 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × RAF 1a air cooled V-8 engine, 90 hp (67 kW) Performance

Maximum speed: 72 mph (63 knots, 116 km/h) at 6,500 ft (1,980 m)

Endurance: 3 hr 15 min Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,050 m) Climb to 3,500 ft (1,070 m): 6 min 30 s Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 45 min 15 s

Armament Guns: Normally 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun for observer. (Very prone to stoppages) Bombs: 224 lb (100 kg) of bombs (With full bomb load usually flown as a singleseater, without machine gun)

I have this from Barbra Trumbull who I have been in touch with. I have researched this a little and feel Capt. Kelly had to have been in No.14 Squadron Royal Flying Corps. They saw action in Egypt 1916 - 17. Ed

One of my paternal grandfather's first cousins married Thomas Joseph Kelly on 28 Sept 1914 in Madhupur, Bengal, India He was born on 2nd May 1889 in South Mimms, Barnet, England. He was a cavalry officer in the Indian Army in 1915 pilot in Royal Flying Corps from 1916-1917 special services operations 1917. killed: 7 Nov 1917 by Turkish Troops in Gaza during WWI a large memorial to this group of men is in Gaza and each man was buried and an individual headstone installed. Might he be among your Kelly family?

Mayor Dominick Kelly

Major Dominick Kelly was born in Clonina, Cree Co Clare in April 1915. At the age of nine he was taken to Paris to live with his Aunt. He later moved to London and during the Second world war he operated under cover in France. Now retired, he lives in a suburb of Brussels where he settled after the war.

My aunt was governess to the family of the Duc de Massa who lived on the Avenue des Champs Elysées. It was hard to imagine a scene further from Clonina, all silverware and servants with the best of everything! I thought I had landed on the moon at first but I quickly settled in, and soon was speaking perfect french.

After I finished school, I trained to be a teacher, but then I decided it wasn’t for me and went to London where I joined the Metropolitan Police. It was while I was on the beat that I met my future wife, Zizi.

When war broke out I joined the Army and, because of my language skills, I was transferred to the Special Operations Executive. In 1943 I was parachuted into occupied France, and operating undercover, I set up an evacuation line from Brussels to Madrid. Later I found myself in Belgium organising air drops of guns and ammunition. After the war I worked as a Public Prosecutor for the Allied administration in Germany. I was demobilised in 1949 and settled in Brussels.

I worked for a Belgium investment bank for several years, then embarked on a career in business. I retired in 1981. My dear wife Zizi died some years ago and now I live alone. But I have wonderful neighbours and friends and my children and grandchildren come to see me when they can. Sometimes when I look at them I see again that barefoot little boy back in Co Clare, setting out for Paris and life’s great adventure.

 Note.
The SOE was the most secret of organisations, set up at the instigation of Winston Churchill in 1940. It was an amalgamation of three secret organisations, and during it’s existence seems to have had an acrimonious relationship with all arms of the War Department.