Fighter ace, aviation pioneer, bold leader: the remarkable career of Quintin Brand

Quintin Brand had extraordinary flying skills, and put them to full use as a fighter ace and a record-breaking London-to-Cape Town pilot. He was also a superb strategist during the Battle of Britain.

- Graham Jooste

Christopher Joseph Quintin Brand was born in Beaconsfield near Kimberley on 25 May 1893. After finishing school, he joined the Johannesburg Police and qualified as a Criminal Investigation Department officer.

A year later, Brand enlisted in the newly formed Union Defence Force, where he came into contact with generals Jan Smuts and Louis Botha. Keen to fly, Brand travelled to England in 1915, where he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the forerunner of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and underwent training. A natural flyer, Brand qualified in March 1916 and was posted to No. 1 Squadron, RFC, which was then in operation against the Germans in France. This was the first-ever RFC squadron to be posted overseas to a war front.

Flying a French-built Nieuport 17 fighter, Brand proved a fearless pilot, and success came rapidly. He went out alone on scouting missions, reporting back on enemy positions and movements.

PROMOTION AND RECOGNITION

Early in 1917, Brand was promoted to lieutenant, as he had already been leading his own flight crew due to casualties in the squadron. Later in the same year, he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in the air by attacking enemy aircraft and helping a flight that had been ambushed by the Germans to escape unharmed. Posted back to England, Brand took over No. 112 Squadron as flight commander and quickly made his mark. He developed his squadron, which was equipped with Sopwith Pups and Camels, into the RFC's first night-fighter formation.

His next posting was back to France as commander of No. 151 Squadron operating out of Fontaine-sur-Maye, with the rank of captain. This squadron excelled in night raids as well as daylight dogfights. Under Brand's leadership, the squadron destroyed 26 German aircraft in combat, and he personally downed four enemy aircraft in a single day.