The whispers and scuttlebut in the Cotswolds during 1918 was that the Australians had captured the Red Baron's aircraft and were flying it over the English countryside to test it. Not quite. It was Les Holden flying an all-red SE5a as a fighting instructor.

A Cotswold native, Les Sellars recalled;

There was one aircraft we saw often which we were told that was the captured Fokker belonging to the infamous 'Red Baron' Richthofen.

Butterow local Percy Hodge remembers;

We sat on the stone wall and watched the aeroplanes go up and down like flies. We were near enough to see some of them starting the engines by swinging on their propellers. Sometimes they would wave to us - I remember one red fighter, we called it the 'Red Devil

Source: "ANZACS over England - The Australian Flying Corps in Gloucestershire 1918-1919" by David Goodland and Alan Vaughan.

Captain L.H. Holden was a fighting instructor for No.6 Training Squadron Australian Flying Corps. The fighting instructors conducted dogfights against the cadets so they had training in the modern fighting tactics. The instructors found it tiring, as cadets are less predictable than the experienced German pilots they faced on the Western Front - the instructors were constantly in danger of being flown into. As a result they painted their aircraft bright colours so they could be easily seen.

Les Holden earned the nickname "Lucky Len" and "Homing Pigeon" with 2 Sqn Australian Flying Corps during the Battle of Cambrai. His DH5 often being so full of bullet holes it was either a write off or required 12 hours of labour on it to bring it to flying condition again. In March of 1918 during the offensive, Holden averaged one SE5a a day until his luck ran out and he was wounded. After convalescence the four victory scout pilot was posted as an Instructor to the AFC Training schools in Michinhampton.

More: A History of No.2 Squadron Australian Flying Corps.