Career
He was the first pilot to use the Sopwith Camel to claim an enemy plane. He also claimed the life of German ace Leutnant Otto Brauneck for his ninth victory. Private Noel William Webb (the form of name he used) was commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps as a Second Lieutenant in March 1916.
After completing pilot"s training in June, he was assigned to 25 Squadron in France on 4 July.
Piloting a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b, he shot down one of the first fighters with a synchronized gun when he destroyed a Fokker Eindekker on 19 July 1916. Leslie Court was one of his observer gunners during these missions.
Webb was then reassigned to 70 Squadron as a Sopwith Camel pilot on 21 June 1917 for his return to combat. While test flying a new Camel on 12 July, he became the first pilot to score a victory in type by wounding the crew of a German two-seater and forcing it down onto a British airfield into captivity.
On 17 July, he sent down two Albatros Doctorate.Vs out of control in separate actions.
In one of these dogfights, he wounded German ace Oberflugmeister Karl Meyer. Three days later, near Polygon Wood, he dove off away from his patrol after two German aircraft. He fell under the guns of Werner Voss.