Early life

Charles George Douglas Napier was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, England in 1892. He would begin his military service as a private

Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

 in the British Army Cyclist Corps

Army Cyclist Corps

The Army Cyclist Corps was a corps of the British Army active during the First World War, and controlling the Army's bicycle infantry.Volunteer cyclist units had been formed as early as the 1880s, with the first complete bicycle unit being raised in 1888...

.

World War I

Second lieutenant C. G. D. Napier was appointed a Flying Officer

Flying Officer

Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...

 and transferred to the General List of the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 on 23 September 1917. He then served with 20 Squadron in late 1917 before transferring to 48 Squadron in early 1918. He scored his first aerial victory while with them, on 7 February 1918. He would run his total to nine wins, rounding off his tally with a triple victory on 9 May 1918; he and his gunner Walter Beales

Walter Beales

Sergeant Walter Beales was a flying ace credited with nine official victories. He began his long career of service during World War I, and served during and after World War II.-World War I:...

 were also shot down during this action, though without injury. Six days later, he was killed in action, shot down along with his gunner of the day. On 12 June, the Germans verified Napier's death. Ten days later, his award of the Military Cross was gazetted, as follows:

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	7 February 1918 approximately 0600 hours	Bristol F.2b Fighter Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter was a British two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War flown by the Royal Flying Corps. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter or popularly the "Brisfit" or "Biff". Despite being a two-seater, the F.2B proved to be an agile aircraft...	LVG LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin-Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bomber biplanes during World War I.The raid on London in 1916 was...  reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Le Catelet Le Catelet Le Catelet is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-References:*...	Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore Joseph Michael John Moore Second lieutenant Joseph Michael John Moore was a World War I flying ace credited with eight victories. He flew as a gunner/observer in two-seater fighters, garnering his wins while flying with three different pilots...
2	8 March 1918 approximately 0600 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter	DFW DFW DFW may refer to:*Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport*Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a metropolitan area in north Texas*Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources*Division of Fisheries and Wildlife...  reconnaissance plane	Set afire; destroyed	Saint-Quentin Saint-Quentin Places called Saint-Quentin include:*Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Aisne, Picardie, France*Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, Canada*Saint-Quentin Parish, New Brunswick, CanadaSaint-Quentin is part of the name of several places, including:...	Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore
3	8 March 1918 approximately 0600 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter	LVG reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control		Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore
4	16 March 1918 approximately 0600 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter	Albatros D.III Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...	Driven down out of control		Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore
5	27 March 1918 @ 1120 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter serial number C4886	Reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Southwest of Roye Roye Roye is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Roye, Haute-Saône, in the Haute-Saône département* Roye, Somme, in the Somme département* Roye-sur-Matz, in the Oise département-People:...	Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore
6	27 March 1918 @ 1120 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter s/n C4886	Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.III |-See also:-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Grosz, Peter M. Pfalz D.IIIa . Berkhamsted, Herts, UK: Albatros Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-94841-425-1.* Guttman, Jon. Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ...	Driven down out of control	Southwest of Roye	Napier's gunner/observer was J. M. J. Moore
7	9 May 1918 @ 1540 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter s/n C4750	Fokker Triplane Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...	Driven down out of control	Wiencourt-l'Équipée Wiencourt-l'Équipée Wiencourt-l'Équipée is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Population:-External links:*... -Mericourt Méricourt Méricourt is the name of several communes in France:*Méricourt, Pas-de-Calais*Méricourt, Yvelines*Méricourt-en-Vimeu, in the Somme département*Méricourt-l'Abbé, in the Somme département*Méricourt-sur-Somme, in the Somme département...	Napier's gunner/observer was Walter Beales Walter Beales Sergeant Walter Beales was a flying ace credited with nine official victories. He began his long career of service during World War I, and served during and after World War II.-World War I:...
8	9 May 1918 @ 1540 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter s/n C4750	Fokker Triplane	Driven down out of control	Wiencourt-Mericourt	Napier's gunner/observer was Walter Beales Walter Beales Sergeant Walter Beales was a flying ace credited with nine official victories. He began his long career of service during World War I, and served during and after World War II.-World War I:...
9	9 May 1918 @ 1540 hours	Bristol F.2 Fighter s/n C4750	Fokker Triplane	Driven down out of control	Wiencourt-Mericourt	Napier's gunner/observer was Walter Beales Walter Beales Sergeant Walter Beales was a flying ace credited with nine official victories. He began his long career of service during World War I, and served during and after World War II.-World War I:...

Reference

• Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0948817194, 9780948817199.