Wilfred C. Alcock signatureWilfred Cecil Alcock was a cadet with the 42nd Wing of the Royal Flying Corps when he was killed at Camp Taliaferro, the winter training quarters for the Deseronto pilot trainees.  A report in the Tulsa Daily World newspaper noted that he had a previous near miss at Camp Mohawk, where he was attached to 79 Canadian Training Squadron:

Tulsa Daily World report on Wilfred C. Alcock's death

Jinx Followed Him

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 25 – Wilfred C. Alcock, aged 26, the aviator who was killed in an aviation accident near Fort Worth, Texas, yesterday, was a resident of this city. He left here a few months ago to study aviation at Camp Mohawk, Toronto, Canada, and was later transferred to Texas for advanced instruction. While flying in Canada he had a narrow escape when his airplane smashed against a tree in gliding to earth from a height of two thousand feet.

The official Royal Flying Corps account of Alcock’s fatal accident gives more detail on the cause of the crash:

Wilfred C. Alcock RFC casualty card

…Date of Casualty: 24.11.17
Where occurred: Canada Sth of aero field No 2 Camp Taliaferro
Type of Machine: Curtiss J.N.4 C760
Nature and Cause of Accident: Centre section of machine Carried away by under carriage of another machine
Result of Accident: Killed
Name of other Occupant of Machine: Nil…

Alcock was born in Knutsford, Cheshire, England on May 10th, 1891, the son of Frederick Alcock and Harriet (née Jones). In 1911 he was living at 95 King Street, Knutsford, with his parents and working as a printer. He emigrated to New York in 1912, leaving Glasgow on the SS California on October 19th. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in Toronto on September 6th, 1917, giving his home address as 131 Merrimac Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Wilfred was buried in Oak Grove cemetery, New Bedford and is also remembered on the Mobberly Road war memorial at Knutsford in England.