Death of Aviation Pioneer in Baghdad 1923

On the evening of the 7th December 1923, whilst walking through the streets of Baghdad, Flight Lieutenant Albert E Gendle OBE (a WW1 veteran who was working at that time in the Headquarters of the RAF Command, Iraq) was struck down by robbers and died at the scene. He was buried at the RAF Hinaidi Peace Cemetery (later re-named the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery) in Plot 3 Row G Grave 14. His headstone is one of the 77 that have survived in complete or partial state out of the 300 burials that were carried out at Ma'Asker. Few people were aware that Albert Gendle was a pioneer of aviation. Listed below is a brief summary of the earlier successes of this pioneer of aviation leading up to his death.

On the 4the march 1915 Gendle was granted temporary commission as Lieutenant RNVR, with responsibilities including the setting up of meteorological observation stations for the RNAS. On the 18th July 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander RNVR and on the 15th August 1918 he was granted a temporary commission as Major. On the 27th March 1919 he was appointed chief of the RAF Meteorological Division, pioneering the use of meteorological forecasting in the Daily Mail $10,000 Atlantic Race,. On the 2nd June 1919 he was appointed member of the Royal Aero Club and the following day he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for working with the MoD after WW1 in establishing surveys for the transatlantic flights of “R” type airships and aeroplanes. On the 23rd January 1920 he was granted a permanent commission in the peacetime RAF as Flt/Lt with the proviso that he learn to fly within 12 months, which he did. On Boxing Day 1922 Flt Lt Albert Gendle transferred from HQ (RAF Middle East) to HQ (Iraq Command), where he served for a year before his tragic death in December 1923, aged 37.

Headstone for Flt Lt Albert Edgar Gendle OBE at the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Baghdad