The saddest selfie

It’s a striking image of a fresh-faced young man taking a picture of himself in front of a dresser mirror 100 years ago.

But less than a year later, 21-year-old Captain "Rich" Baker was dead, one of the last Australians killed during the First World War.

A highly decorated flying ace of “exceptional determination and courage”, Baker was shot down over Belgium on 4 November 1918, the 10th anniversary of his father’s death and just a week before the end of the war.

His story was read by Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin at a Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra – one of Binskin’s last acts as the Chief of the Defence Force before retiring after 40 years of military service.

For Binskin, it was a particularly special moment. He has been attending Last Post Ceremonies at the Memorial since they began in 2013 and said it was privilege to read Baker’s story.

“I’m very proud of the Australian War Memorial and I’m very proud of what it shows the Australian people,” he said ahead of the ceremony.

“For me, tonight, it’s my last chance, my last night as CDF, quite literally. I hand over tomorrow afternoon, and it was important for me, as one of those last acts as Chief of the Defence Force, to come here and do a reading. And particularly for me, as a fighter pilot, I’m pleased that I can do a reading for an Australian Flying Corps fighter pilot who tragically lost his life on the 4th of November 1918. It’s a privilege to be able to do it.”

Thomas Charles Richmond Baker was born in Smithfield, South Australia, on 2 May 1897, the eldest son of Richmond Baker, a school master and farmer, and his wife Annie.

“Rich”, as he was known, loved to build model aircraft and dreamed of becoming a pilot one day, but was working as a bank clerk when the First World War broke out.  

He enlisted with his mother’s consent on 15 July 1915 and was serving with the 6th Field Artillery in France when he took part in his first major action during the battle of Pozières in July 1916.

Less than six months later, he was awarded the Military Medal for “great devotion to duty” in repairing a telephone line under intense fire while serving as the telephonist for his commanding officer near Gueudecourt on 11 December 1916. His commanding officer was acting as a forward observation officer and the two men occupied an exposed position ahead of the Australian front line. While under constant fire from enemy snipers and artillery, Baker went out into the open four times to repair the line in 30 separate places to maintain communications.

A year later, he added a Bar to his Military Medal after he helped put out a fire in a gun position which had threatened to detonate about 300 rounds of high explosive shells near Messines in June 1917.

His quick actions were said to have prevented “certain disaster”, but Baker still longed to fly, and he often watched the aircraft in action overhead.

In late September 1917, his application to transfer to the Australian Flying Corps as a mechanic was accepted, and a month later he was selected to undergo pilot training, qualifying in March 1918.

He was considered so good that he was offered a job as an instructor, but he refused, asking instead to be posted to an operational squadron in France, where he joined No. 4 Squadron and was promoted to lieutenant.

He scored his first aerial victory while flying a Sopwith Camel in July, bringing down a Fokker D.VII, and by the end of August, he had taken down another three enemy aircraft, becoming an ace pilot.

He met King George V, telling his mother that the King, who seemed a “jolly decent sort”, had asked how he received the Military Medal and Bar, and “how many Huns” he had shot down.

Returning to operational flying in France, he shot down a further two enemy aircraft before the squadron was re-equipped with Sopwith Snipe fighters. He was promoted to temporary captain and made a flight commander on 24 October, bringing down a further six enemy aircraft by the end of the month.

On 4 November 1918, Baker led a formation of Sopwith Snipes as part of an escort for a bombing operation against a German aerodrome near Ath in Belgium. The bombing was a success, but on the return journey, the group was intercepted by a large number of enemy aircraft. In the ensuring dogfight, four German aircraft were shot down. But when the Snipes regrouped, they discovered five of their own aircraft had been shot down, including Baker’s.

Several pilots reported seeing his aircraft crash-land behind enemy lines, and Baker was initially recorded as missing in action, but despite searches by ground and air, he remained unaccounted for. A court of enquiry in February 1919 determined that he had been killed in action on 4 November.  Initially classed as an unknown British officer, Baker’s remains were later located and identified by an Imperial War Graves team in the Escanaffles Coummunal Cemetery at Hainault in Belgium. He just 21 years old, and had died on the 10th anniversary of his father’s death.

One of his mates, and fellow ace pilot, Lieutenant Leonard Taplin described Baker as “one of the most brilliant boys … one of the best fliers I have ever seen.”

Baker was posthumously promoted to captain and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 23 May 1919. The citation summed up his brief, but spectacular career as a fighter pilot. “This officer has carried out some forty low flying raids on hostile troops, aerodromes, etc. and has taken part in numerous offensive patrols,” it read. “He has, in addition, destroyed eight hostile machines. In all these operations he has shown exceptional initiative and dash, never hesitating to lead his formation against overwhelming odds, nor shrinking from incurring personal danger.”

After his death, his close friend Stanford Howard, wrote that Baker was “utterly fearless” and that he took new pilots under his care and did everything he could to make sure they were safe during operations: “His machine could be seen darting here and there, always to the help of those in difficulties … He met his death in the defence of others … fighting to the last.”

He was, Howard wrote, “the most gallant airman that left these his native shores.”

Baker’s mother, Annie, donated a copy of her son’s letters and airman’s log to the Memorial in 1928, writing to the then director, “it is a record of wonderful deeds and one of my most cherished possessions”. The letters, which are currently being digitised, were one of the earliest donations to the national collection and were used by Charles Bean in writing the Official History of the First World War.

For Air Chief Marshal, Mark Binskin, the Last Post Ceremony commemorating Baker’s service and sacrifice during the First World War was particularly poignant.

“I often come here, and I just pause and I remember, not just the sacrifices of those back in the past wars, but the sacrifices people are making today,” he said.

“I think it’s very important that while we remember the past, we don’t forget the present as well. I’ve lost a few mates over the years and you just have a good think.”