The Spad XIII was not widely used by the RFC and the only unit to be fully equipped with the aircraft was No 23 Sqn. The squadron received its first aeroplanes in December 1917 and by mid-February 1918 it was at full strength with 16 Spad XIIIs.
Captain William Mayes Fry served in the infantry before transferring to the RFC in December 1915. By the time he joined 23 Sqn late in 1917 he was already a veteran with experience in Morane-Saulnier and Nieuport fighters. On 4th January 1918 he scored his first Spad XIII kill when he downed an Albatros DV and on 23rd January he was flying aircraft B6847 when he shot down another Albatros in flames over the Houthhulst Forest. Fry finished the war with eleven kills and went on to become a wing leader in the post-war RAF. After retiring he returned to wartime service for the duration of WWII from 1939 to 1945. Willy Fry died on 4th August 1992.
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