(1892-1919) English pilot who, with navigator Arthur Whitten Brown, completed the first successful non-stop Atlantic flight in June 1919. Extremely rare, World War I-date A.L.S. signed twice ‘Capt. J. Alcock’ in return address and again ‘Jack’ at conclusion, written from Ohchak, Turkey while in a POW camp after his capture on Sept. 30, 1917, on thin-lined paper to Capt. Sydney H. Gaskell, whom he addresses as ‘Old Buster’ and ‘Old Bean’. In part: ‘...I was delighted to hear of the successes of my machine [euphemism for an aircraft], as regards its unfortunate end, I was relieved to find it was no fault of the machine but some of ‘B’ ‘F’ [‘Y’?] who[m] I should like to meet. Starbuck seems to have been nuts on her, I wish he had been able to do a little work with it. Hick & Piper arrived here last May & told me of her first trials which bucked me up a lot. Do you happen to know what the Admiralty are doing about her?...You might let me have news of the R.A.F. re rank, pay & uniform, etc. Do you happen to know if I was promoted to Flt. bom. about March or later? As I had a letter from old Ashford(e) dated March 15th congratulating me on my promotion & honor. Before I forget, let me congratulate you on your escape from being my shipmate on the last stunt, also on your Greek honor (what you may call it). I was very surprised as the few they dished out…We simply live for the mail…Look after yourself & give seaplanes a trial…’. On Sept. 17, 19171 Alcock was piloting a Handley Page bomber on a raid against the Turkish capital of Constantinople, when one engine failed. The aircraft managed to limp on for more than 100 meters before the other engine failed and crashed into the sea near Suvla Bay. Alcock and his two crewmembers swam for about an hour to reach the Ottoman army-held shore, only to be immediately captured. Alcock spent the next 14 months as a prisoner of war in Turkey. He was released on the Armistice of November 1918, exactly two months after this letter was written. Alcock was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions before capture. He would die at the age of 27 following a crash in France, December 1919. Alcock’s correspondent is a fellow RAF pilot, Sydney H. Gaskell. As mentioned in the letter, Gaskell was decorated by the King of the Hellenes. Boldly penned and in very good condition.