Regiment: Notts' Yeomanry / RFC.
Died: 16 March 1918 aged 25 in Croydon. Accidentally killed in flight.
Cemetery: St James Lealholm North
Born 7th June 1893. Son of the late Sir Francis Ley, 1st Bart. and of Lady Ley, of Lealholm Lodge, Lealholm, Yorks. Born at Barrow-on-Trent.
Pembroke College, Cambridge.
'Christopher Ley, Captain Notts Yeomanry and R.F.C., was accidentally killed on March 16th, while taking part in an exhibition flight at Croydon. In August 1915 he went out to Gallipoli, where after two months' service he contracted typhoid fever, and spent some time in hospital. He then joined the R.F.C. and was wounded in an aerial flight in France last June, when his commanding officer wrote, in appreciation of his services, that he had proved himself a good pilot and a gallant fellow. He had just been passed as fit for service, and was on the point of returning to the front, when the accident happened which cut short his career. As a boy, he took a keen interest in all games, and was an excellent shot, being a member of the School VIII, and shooting at Bisley in 1911 and 1912. After leaving school, he went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and in 1913 he formed one of the team of four which won the Veterans' Trophy for Malvern at Bisley. It will be remembered that his brother, Maurice, was killed in action in November 1914.' (Malvernian, Jun 1918).
Norfolk Chronicle 22 March 1918:
'Captain C Ley RFC was killed while flying at Croydon on Saturday. While he was giving an exhibition flight in connection with the local Tank Day, he came down too low and his machine (Sopwith Camel B7462) struck the chimney stack of a house.'
Biography at nottinghamshire.gov.uk