Just before the outbreak of war small orders were placed by the
Royal Flying Corps among private firms for untried types of single-seater fighters, including the Martinsyde scout. Sixty of the S.1 were built, the first going to France on the 1st March 1915. Various Squadrons received two or three Martinsydes to escort reconnaissance aircraft and bomber missions. They continued in service until the end of 1915 on the
Western Front before being relegated to training. Although initially intended for use in Home Defence operating from the UK, it was found to be inadequate for that too. It was reported to be unstable, and it was the aircraft Captain
Louis Strange was flying in a combat with a German two-seater, when one of the oddest incidents of WW1 took place. He was changing a drum on his overhead
Lewis gun, when the aircraft turned over - and he fell out. However, he held on with one hand to the spade grip of the gun, and somehow managed to hook one leg into the cockpit, then the other. The plane righted itself, and he fell back in, breaking the seat. The German crew, convinced they saw their opponent fall out, claimed a kill, and were (so it was said by the ace,
Bruno Loerzer, who was based in the area), ribbed afterwards, when no wreckage was found. ('The Friendless Sky' - A McKee) ==Operators==