He claimed his first two victories in September 1917 while flying an Airco DH.5, destroying an Albatros D.III on the 25th near Cambrai, and another on the 28th at Bugnicourt, France.
He was born in Bugnicourt, the son of Nicholas D'Abrichecourt, a nobleman from Hainault who had come to England in 1326 as an escort of Queen Isabella.