Lieutenant Ernest Hardcastle DFC (31 December 1898 – November 1973) was an English World War I flying ace observer/gunner credited with twelve aerial victories.
He enlisted in the Yorkshire Regiment, but transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in August 1917,[3] and after initial training as a cadet, was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant (on probation) on 30 January 1918.
[3] Hardcastle's winning streak began on 8 May 1918 and ended on 30 July 1918, with all but one victory being over an enemy fighter aircraft.
The pilots aiding him included fellow aces Lieutenants Victor Groom and August Iaccaci, as well as Captains Douglas Graham Cooke, and Horace Percy Lale.
[7][2] Hardcastle returned to military service in World War II, being commissioned as a pilot officer (on probation) in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 30 September 1940.