Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps.
Born: April 1st 1894
Died: October 27th 1917
Age at Death: 23
Accidentally killed while flying, Thetford, October 27th 1917
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by Yam's Family.
Obituary, Brightonian XVI April, 1918
C.W. Homer entered School House May, 1911 and left July, 1912. When war broke out, Homer was sheep-farming in New Zealand; he joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and was at the evacuation of Gallipoli. After a period at home on sick leave, he joined the R.F.C. and was appointed instructor at Thetford. He was killed in an accident while flying with a pupil.
2nd Lieutenant Charles William Homer
Charles Homer was born on 1 April 1894. His father’s identity is unknown, possibly because he died before the 1901 Census, but he was the son of Mary Ann Homer (née Miller), who lived for some time in Bognor Regis and eventually settled in Euston, Suffolk. He was initially educated at Maidenhead College, Kent before moving to Brighton College (School House). During his brief period there he appears to have played in several football teams and was a member of the OTC. After he left the College he spent some months studying in Germany, before emigrating to New Zealand to take up sheep farming.
Homer was in New Zealand when the war began and initially enlisted with the NZEF, with which, as part of the ANZACs he fought at Gallipoli. After the evacuation from Gallipoli he transferred to the RFC, and after some training received both his aviation certificate and his commission. After serving on the Western Front for a period he became a flying instructor at Thetford Airfield, Norfolk. It was there that, on 27 October 1917, while flying with a pupil (Lt D. Gill) his plane had engine problems and crashed killing both him and his pupil.
Charles Homer was then buried in the churchyard of St Genevieve’s Church, Euston, Suffolk.
Source: LEST WE FORGET PROJECT, Brighton College 2014/15