Richard Bell Davies's bombing attacks and air rescue

Richard Bell Davies's First World War record explains why his experience remained valuable to the wartime Navy. His DSO citation described repeated low-level attacks on German submarine facilities at Ostend and Zeebrugge, including one flown after he was wounded in the thigh. He later landed near Flight Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert Formby Smylie's disabled aircraft while enemy troops approached and flew him back to safety. The account describes the rescue as the first combat search and rescue by aircraft. His record combined early naval-aviation experience with unusual courage under fire.