His former commanding officer, Sholto Douglas, thought a great deal of Andrew Beauchamp- Proctor, the South African whose outstanding aerial combat abilities during World War One saw him being awarded the Victoria Cross
Specially commissioned from renowned artist Harry Dempsey to accompany this feature, this superb illustration depicts the action on the evening of 19 May 1918, when Oblt Hans Witt of Jasta 46 and his Albatros D.V fell under the guns of Andrew Beauchamp- Proctor’s SE5a for his 16th victory.
HARRY DEMPSEY
WORDS: ALEX REVELL
Andrew Frederick Weatherby Beauchamp- Proctor — ‘Proccy’ to his friends — was born on 4 September 1894, the second son of Mr and Mrs J. J. Proctor of Mossel Bay, Cape Province, South Africa. Anxious to play his part in the war, in October 1914 Proctor was granted a year’s leave from his studies at Cape Town University and enlisted in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles. After active service in the campaigns in south-west Africa, he completed the third year of his engineering degree.
