What was the first British aircraft shot down by the enemy?

Short answer

The first British aircraft shot down by the Germans was a Royal Flying Corps Avro 504, downed on 22 August 1914. It was crewed by Second Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall as pilot and Lieutenant Charles George Gordon Bayly as observer, both of 5 Sqn RFC.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What was the first British aircraft shot down by the enemy?

Avro 504K, archive image, registration G-ADEVRonnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom (CC BY), vía commons

An RFC Avro 504, on 22 August 1914

One of the Royal Flying Corps' aircraft was the first British aircraft shot down by the Germans, on 22 August 1914. It was flown by Second Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall, with Lieutenant Charles George Gordon Bayly as observer, both of 5 Sqn RFC.

An Aircraft Meant for Training

The Avro 504 first flew from Brooklands on 18 September 1913, with Fred "Freddie" Raynham at the controls, powered by a seven-cylinder Gnome Lambda rotary engine of 80 hp (60 kW). It was a development of the Avro 500 conceived for training and private flying.

The Avro 500 Lineage

The Avro Type E, Type 500, and Type 502 formed a family of early British military aircraft that Alliott Verdon Roe considered his firm's first truly successful design, and which was the forerunner of the Avro 504, one of the most notable aircraft of the First World War. The Avro 500 first flew on 3 March 1912, piloted by Wilfred Parke. The Avro 501, in turn, was the first aircraft to cross the North Sea, from Wilhelmshaven to Heligoland, in September 1913.