Earlier today a centenary ceremony to mark the handover from the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1922, was held at the home of the Irish Air Corps, Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Dublin. The Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, the General Officer Commanding Air Corps, Brigadier General Rory O’Connor and over 1,000 serving and former members of the Air Corps attended the ceremony.
The ceremony involved a representative body of Air Corps personnel symbolically marching through the original main gate at 12.00pm. A wreath was laid to commemorate all those who died in service throughout the century followed by the raising of the National Colours and a ceremonial flypast.
Speaking at the event General Officer Commanding Air Corps, Brigadier General Rory O’Connor remembered those who came before “Irish forces marched in and took over the Camp on 3 May 1922 and since that day, Baldonnel has been the home of the Air Corps. The dedication of Air Corps personnel, the missions completed, and the lives saved, have come about through the people who have walked through these gates and gave their years’ of service, most of which can be counted in decades.” He Continued “Looking back to what Baldonnel was like 100yrs ago, I have no doubt that those early members of the Air Corps would be very proud of the organisation that the Air Corps has become, and of all that it has achieved over the course of its first 100 years”.
Photo: a lonely Commonwealth War Grave Commission Headstone in Tay Lane Cemetery, Celbridge, Co. Kildare
Walking through cemeteries you may have wondered why graves of servicemen dated 1919, 1920 and 1921 have a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone. This is due to a sometimes-forgotten fact, today 31 August, marks the official end of the Great War.
Although guns fell silent with the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918, treaties had to be signed and the war had to be officially ended. For example, the Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Different treaties were signed with other powers. To officially end the war the British Parliament passed The Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act 1918 which allowed the government to determine the official ending of the war between the British Empire and the Central Powers. Officially the war ended between the British Empire and Germany on 10 January 1920; Austria on 16 July 1920; Bulgaria on 9 August 1920; Hungary on 26 July 1921; and Turkey on 6 August 1924. It was declared for all other purposes, the Great War to have officially ended on 31 August 1921.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established by Royal Charter on 21 May 1917. They commemorate those who died as a result of their service up until the official end of the war on 31 August 1921. That includes those who died in service and those who died after they were discharged.
Two such examples include:
Air Mechanic 2nd Class, Charles Sheridan, Royal Air Force. Died on 16 August 1921. Buried in Tay Lane Cemetery, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and Sapper J. Cash, Royal Engineers. Died 21 February 1919. Buried in Deans Grange Cemetery, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.
Air Mechanic 2nd Class, Charles Sheridan, Royal Air Force. Died on 16 August 1921. Buried in Tay Lane Cemetery, Celbridge, Co. Kildare. (Photo by Wesley Bourke)
Sapper J. Cash, Royal Engineers. Died 21 February 1919. Buried in Deans Grange Cemetery, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. (Photo by Peter Molloy)
Passing of Irish Aviation Historian AP (Tony) Kearns
Tony with his good friend and fellow historian Cpl Michael Whelan at the Air Corps Museum.
It is with a heavy heart that we bring you the sad news of the passing of AP (Tony) Kearns. Tony was one of Ireland’s leading aviation historians. Involved with Irish Air Corps history and heritage since the 1960s, Tony went on to become a volunteer in the Air Corps Museum and was the go-to oracle. An ardent supporter of Ireland’s Military Story since the beginning, Tony became part of the extended team and good friend providing invaluable aviation and Air Corps knowledge. In 2016/2017 he wrote for our readers the series “Emergency Over Irish Skies – the story of the Air Corps during the Emergency (1939 – 1946)” and “Gloster ‘Irish’ Gladiator”. Just before Covid hit Tony – along with the team in the Air Corps Museum – was assisting us with a project for Dublin Port on the Emergency.
Our condolences from all the team to his family and the Air Corps on their loss.
Gloster ‘Irish’ Gladiator
Hawker Hector/Hind
These two archive images are two of the projects Tony assisted us on. They were restored and colourised by John O’Byrne with the assistance of Tony who gave expert detail down to the micro level.
Congratulations to the Northern Ireland Universities’ Air Squadron (NIUAS) on the approval of their new crest. Five years ago NIUAS designed a new crest and submitted for approval.
The beautiful crest has a crown on top with a harp and book in the centre with the phrase: Novos Finis Usque Petentes, which translates as: ‘Always Seeking New Horizons’.
Image: NIUAS Facebook
NIUAS is a Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve unit for full-time undergraduate students from Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University. It was formed in November 2015 some 20 years after the Queen’s University Air Squadron was disbanded. There are 15 University Air Squadrons of which NIUAS is the most recent.
NIUAS operates out of Aldergrove Flying Station, located by Belfast International Airport and once-a-month from Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association for Northern Ireland (RFCA NI) HQ in central Belfast. The NIUAS activities model is delivered via four classifications as follows: Flying, Adventurous Training, Sport, and Force Development.
Yesterday the General Officer Commanding of the Irish Air Corps, Brigadier General Rory O’ Connor hosted the Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney TD, Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Ms Jacqui McCrum and the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM at the official unveiling of the three new Pilatus ‘Spectre’ PC12NG that arrived from Denver, Colorado on 10 September.
The Fixed Wing Utility Aircraft (FWUA) Project Board selected the Pilatus PC-12NG as a suitable replacement for the Cessna FR172, which served 47 years in the Air Corps: a contract for three aircraft was signed in 2017.
The PC-12NG is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland. The type has been in operation since 1991 and over 1,700 have been produced so far, with the fleet having accumulated over 7million flight hours.
The PC-12NG is a versatile multi-role aircraft with day/night, all weather capabilities. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67P engine, the aircraft can cruise at 520km/hr at an altitude of 30,000ft. With two pilots and up to nine passengers, it is facilitated by a large cargo door, offering significant versatility across a wide variety of roles, including passenger, cargo, medical and surveillance.
The utility of the aircraft is a result of the ease with which it can be reconfigured for various operations, carry large loads over a long range and operate from semi-prepared runways. The aircraft are configured as special mission platforms with appropriate mission and air ambulance equipment fitted. The aircraft houses a deployable electro-optical and infrared sensor suite, which provides for an in-flight 360-degree view, controlled through a mission operator station and a tactical flight officer.
The air ambulance kit is a LifePort stretcher system, which facilitates the carriage of patients and incubator, if required.
The three PC-12NG aircraft will be operated by 104 Squadron, No.1 Operations Wing, joining PC-12NG 280 which arrived earlier this year.
The main roles for the aircraft will be:
Logistics – Passengers (up to 9)Logistics – Cargo (up to 1½ Tonnes)
Logistics – Passenger / Cargo mix
Air Ambulance
Surveillance – over land and coastal areas using sensor suite
Medical Repatriation
In April, a decision was taken to purchase an additional PC-12NG to respond to Government taskings resulting from the Covid-19 global pandemic. To date, this aircraft has been utilised significantly throughout Europe and North Africa where it has completed a number of missions, including:
Logistics Transport – CoVID Tests to Germany;
Medical Repatriation of Defence Forces personnel from Germany and Kosovo;
Service Support for Air Corps maintenance taskings;
Troop Rotation – Defence Forces personnel to/from MINURSO in North Africa
Air Ambulance – HSE support to the UK
Minister for Defence Simon Coveney TD, unveiling PC-12NG 282.
In the coming weeks the aircraft will be brought onto the Air Corps military register and undergo mission system testing. Air Corps personnel (technicians, flightcrew and support personnel) will undergo familiarisation training, along with Defence Forces elements, prior to the aircraft becoming fully operational in the various roles.
Photos by Ken Mooney and courtesy of Ulster Aviation Society
Published: Winter 2017 edition
Keeping in line with our Royal Air Force theme we decided to
pay a visit to the largest collection of aircraft on the island of Ireland –
the Ulster Aviation Collection. Housed within an ex-Second World War hangar at
Maze Long Kesh, outside Lisburn, Co. Antrim, this collection of 36 aircraft, aviation
artefacts, complemented with several historical collections, tells the story of
aviation in Ireland. Resident historian, Ernie Cromie, was there to greet us
and take us around.
I have to admit I am an aviation buff, so this visit was a
treat for me. I’ve been to the Irish Air Corps Museum and to several aviation
museums abroad, I was not expecting to find such a collection on our own
doorstep. Ernie explained that the collection was started back in 1984, by the
Ulster Aviation Society who were then based at Castlereagh College in East
Belfast. The Society is made up of volunteers who research, restore, educate
and fund raise to keep aviation history alive.
Aviation in Ireland dates right back to the early days of
flight when inventor Harry Ferguson took to the air in 1909. Since that time
both military and civilian aviation has made a huge impact on the island. From
a military point of view, Ireland’s geographical position placed it in a
significant strategic location during the First and Second World Wars, and the
Cold War. This strategic position has ensured a unique aviation history. During
the First World War both British and United States aircraft operated from all around
Ireland. Again, during the Second World War and the Cold War Royal Air Force,
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and United States aircraft operated in and out of
Northern Ireland, while the Irish Air Corps patrolled the airspace of southern Ireland.
Internationally Northern Ireland is well known in the aviation world. The aviation
giant Shorts Bombardier needs no introduction. Their aircraft designs have put
Belfast and Northern Ireland on the world’s aviation map. Northern Ireland is
further known as the birthplace of the ejection seat pioneer, James (later, Sir
James) Martin. Martin-Barker Ltd has a test facility at the former RAF Langford
Lodge near Crumlin in Co. Antrim. It is used for testing, and houses a 6,200
feet (1,900 m) high-speed rocket sled track.
The Collection
There is no escaping the aircraft collection. You are simply
gobsmacked from the minute you enter the hangar. On entering you are met by a
Blackburn Buccaneer. Beside it is a replica of the Second World War ‘Down’
Spitfire. Two aircraft from two different eras. The replica of the Rolls Royce Merlin
piston driven Spitfire stands elegantly by the side of its larger Cold War jet
cousin. The Buccaneer was a British carrier-borne attack aircraft designed in
the 1950’s for the Royal Navy. With a crew of 2 (Pilot and Observer) it stands
at 63 ft 5 in (19.33 m) in length and has a wingspan of 44 ft (13.41m). Powered
by 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 101 turbofans, it could reach a top speed of 667 mph
(580 kn, 1,074 km/h) at 200 ft (60 m). The engines on display alongside the
Buccaneer are huge compared to that of Rolls Royce Merlin engine of the
Spitfire. I asked Ernie why is the aircraft lifted off the ground. ‘When we
received the Buccaneer at Langford Lodge our former site, it was flown in in
excellent condition. Which means everything still works. We have her off the
ground so we can raise and lower the undercarriage, the air brake and fold and
unfold the wings, which keeps the hydraulics in working order. To get her flying
again would cost huge funding. Our aim is to get her to a condition whereby she
can taxi out onto the ramp’.
Each aircraft has a story to tell. The English Electric
Canberra B.2 for example became the first jet to make a nonstop unrefuelled
transatlantic crossing. The flight covered almost 1,800 miles in 4h 37 min.
Originally conceived as a high-altitude unarmed bomber, the Canberra first flew
on 13 May 1949, and entered service with the RAF two years later as the PR.3.
In Jan 1960, the Canberra PR.9 entered service with No. 58 Squadron at RAF
Wyton and the first operational sortie was flown three months later. The
Canberra could reach a ceiling of some 60,000 ft. The PR.9 was the
photo-reconnaissance version with fuselage stretched to 68 ft (27.72 m), and a
wingspan increased by 4 ft (1.22 m). The PR.9 has a hinged nose to allow
fitment of an ejection seat for the navigator. A total of 23 of this variant
were built by Short Brothers & Harland. During 1962, PR.9s were used to
photograph Russian shipping movements during the Cuban crisis. Throughout the
Cold War the PR.9 flew missions when and where surveillance was called for with
in more recent years the aircraft being deployed for operations over Rwanda,
Kosovo the 2003 Gulf conflict and Afghanistan in 2006. XH131 was the third aircraft
from the PR.9 production line at Belfast and is the oldest surviving example of
the type. The aircraft was purchased with the assistance of the Heritage
Lottery Fund, and transported to Northern Ireland to join the collection during
December 2010. ‘The last pilot to fly XH131 in Afghanistan in 2006, was Flight
Lieutenant Leckey from Northern Ireland’.
Another example is the Westland Wessex, the British version
of the Sikorsky S-58 ‘Choctaw’, developed under license by Westland Aircraft
(later Westland Helicopters). An American-built Sikorsky HSS-1 was shipped to
Westland in 1956, to act as a pattern aircraft. The example on display in the
collection, XR517, first flew in January 1964, and was stationed with No. 18
Squadron and coded G. In 1968, it was transferred to No. 72 Squadron and from
1971 until 1992, was based at RAF Aldergrove initially carrying the code AN. For
32 years, from 1969, Wessex helicopters of No. 72 Squadron assisted the civil
power and supported the security forces during the ‘Troubles’. In addition, it
had a search and rescue function. It could carry 16 fully-armed troops or lift
a 4-ton underslung load. After its service in Northern Ireland it returned to
England with No. 60 Squadron at RAF Benson. It was acquired by the Society in
2004, from Dick Everett of Shoreham and trucked from there to its original home
at Langford Lodge.
De Havilland Vampire T.11 — WZ549
There are certain aircraft in the collection that you can’t
help but go ‘WOW’. Aircraft such as the Spitfire are simply aviation legends.
Stephen Riley tells us more on the ‘Down’ Spitfire in our Quartermaster’s store.
Others such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II are simply the last aircraft
you would expect to see in Ireland. The Society’s Phantom is currently being repainted.
But even under all the protective sheeting you can make out the slick design of
this Cold War jet. The Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm employed
the Phantom for air defence, close air support, low-level strike and tactical
reconnaissance. Ernie explained that the British version of the Phantom were
assembled in the United States, but fitted with British avionics and 2 x
Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.203 engines. These engines could produce 12,140 lbf (54.0
kN) (dry thrust) and 20,515 lbf (91.26 kN) (with afterburner). A formidable
defence against any incoming Soviet aircraft. Entering service in 1969, the
aircraft was a very familiar sight over Western Germany and in the latter years
patrolling the South Atlantic from the Falklands. ‘The reason why we got one for
the collection was that virtually all the Phantoms for British service were
flown across the Atlantic into the RAF maintenance unit at RAF Aldergrove in
Antrim. The unit prepared the Phantoms for military service’. Three Phantom
variants were built for the United Kingdom: The F-4K variant was designed as an
air defence interceptor to be operated by the Fleet Air Arm from the Royal
Navy’s aircraft carriers; the F-4M version was produced for the RAF to serve in
the tactical strike and reconnaissance roles. In the mid-1980’s, the third
Phantom variant was obtained when a quantity of second-hand F-4J aircraft were
purchased to augment the United Kingdom’s air defences following the Falklands
War with Argentina. The first batch of Phantoms produced for the United Kingdom
received serials in the XT range. The Phantom in the collection is XT864 and it
had spent its latter years guarding a gate at Leuchars in Scotland.
Irish Air Corps Alouette III (SA 316B Mark III) — 202
There are certain aircraft in the collection thatyou can’t help but go ‘WOW’. Aircraft suchas the Spitfire are simply aviation legends.
Another aircraft that has to get special mention is that of
the famous Irish designer, Henry George ‘Harry’ Ferguson. Born in 1884, at
Growell, near Hillsborough, in Co. Down, Harry became gripped by the exploits
of the Wright Brothers and the new flying machines of the early 20th century.
With the help of his brother Harry designed and built the Ferguson monoplane.
The Irish aircraft took off from Hillsborough on 31 December 1909. He became
the first Irishman to fly and the first Irishman to build and fly his own
aeroplane. In the collection is a flying replica of the Ferguson Flyer 1911. You
may have seen it in flight on Dick Strawbridge’s BBC programme earlier this year.
For the programme members of the Ulster Aviation Society built this flying replica.
Dwarfed by a Shorts SD-330, it is baffling how this vintage design could possibly
fly. Ernie could see the question in my face. ‘Yes, it flew. The Society’s own William
McMinn, took it into the air last May at Magilligan Point, near Limavady for
BBC. He said it was a bit hairy,’ Ernie laughed.
Canberra PR.9 — XH131 with its nose open for the navigator to get in and out.
Restoration
One hangar is dedicated to the several aircraft under
restoration. All the work is done by the volunteers. The aircraft come to the
Society in varying conditions. Some aircraft such as the Fairchild 24W-41A
Argus needed a lot of work. This was a four-seater light
transport/communications aircraft used by the RAF and the Air Transport Auxiliary
(ATA). It last flew in 1967, after having a bad crash in Cork. ‘We were given her
five years ago and have done extensive work on her. We have a big job to get an
engine as this model used a rare Scarab engine. We’ve covered her in linen,
whereas she originally was covered in cotton’. During the Second World War
Argus aircraft were based at what is now Belfast City airport with the ATA.
The Grumman F4F Wildcat — JV482 is a long-term project.
Originally, she was stationed on HMS Searcher (D40) in 1943. In 1944,
the aircraft carrier was in port and the aircraft were flown to Long Kesh. ‘The
reason she’s still here is because on Christmas Eve 1944, JV482 was last flown by
a 19-year-old pilot by the name of Peter Lock, who only died earlier this year
and who was ordered to take her up for an air test. She got to about 800 feet
and the engine went on fire. He managed to ditch her in Portmore Lough, near
Lough Neagh. It never sank below the surface as it was in shallow waters’. When
you see the original images of the aircraft as it was taken out of the water,
it is unconceivable that it could be brought back to life at all. Ernie told us
that souvenir hunters had picked at the fuselage and wings. The Society
recovered the aircraft in 1984, the first aircraft in the collection. Bit by
bit the volunteers have begun to rebuild this World War II naval fighter.
‘There is a lot of work still to be done, all the skinning is brand new’.
A very unique aircraft currently being restored is the
Fairey Gannet, a British carrier-borne aircraft from the Cold War. With a crew
of three, it was developed for the Fleet Air Arm for anti-submarine warfare and
strike attack requirements. It had two distinct features: double folding wings
and its double turboprop engine driving two contra-rotating propellers. The
Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba ASMD 1 turboprop engine drove contra-rotating
propellers through a combining gearbox.
Grumman F4F Wildcat — JV482 (currently being restored)
Fairchild 24W-41A Argus — HB612 (currently being restored)
Shorts Bombardier
Shorts SD-330 — G-BDBS
Shorts Tucano — G-BTUC
Shorts Tucano Prototype — ZF167 (currently being restored)
Shorts Sherpa SB.4 — G-14.1 (currently being restored)
Light Transport Turboprop
Percival P.57 Sea Prince T.1 — WF122 (Needs restoration)
Miscellaneous
Air & Space 18A Gyroplane — EI-CNG
V-1 flying bomb Replica
Quicksilver Ultralight
Rotec Rally 2B Microlight — G-MBJV
Himax R-1700 — G-MZHM
Aerosport Scamp
Clutton-Tabenor Fred Series 2 — G-BNZR
Evans VP-2 — G-BEHX
Pitts Special S-1A — N80BA (Needs restoration)
Sea Hawker EI-BUO
Vintage
Ferguson Flyer 1911 Flying Replica
Helicopters
Puma HC1 — XW222
Westland Wessex HC2 — XR517
Westland Scout — XV136
Alouette III (SA 316B Mark III) — 202
Robinson R-22 — G-RENT
Support Vehicles
Bedford QL Fuel Bowser — RAF 206180 (Reg. 53 GPP)
Amazon Thorneycroft Crane (currently being restored)
Ferguson Mk3 Tractor (on temporary loan only)
Post War
Fairey Gannet AS4 — XA460 (currently being restored)
Cockpit Noses
Canberra B2 Nose — WF911 (currently being restored)
Devon C2 Nose — VP957 (currently being restored)
Phantom F-4 — XT864
Shorts Tucano — G-BTUC
The Exhibitions
The Collection is complemented by several collections. One
currently being put together is on Ireland during the First World War. Ernie
showed us a map of Ireland detailing all the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force
bases and United States Naval Air Stations around the island. It seemed like they
were everywhere: from Lough Foyle to Castlebar and from Tallaght to Waterford.
Two images caught my eye. A Handley Page V/1500 and an image of Women’s Royal
Air Force. Handley Page V/1500 were a World War I bomber. As it turns out
several were built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast. The image of the ladies in
uniform is captioned WRAF Dublin circa 1918/1919. An incredibly rare image.
V-1 flying bomb Replica
The Aldergrove Room for example tells the story of the war
over the Atlantic during World War II. People often forget that Derry was the
largest naval base in the British Isles during the Second World War. At the
time it was home to a broad range of Allied aircraft and ships including: the
Canadians, Danish, Dutch, Polish and the United States. A picture of a
Swordfish shows it was flown by pilots of the Royal Netherlands Navy who
operated out of Maydown, in Co Derry. Other exhibit rooms tell the personal
stories of famous Irish pilots from World War II such as Royal Canadian Air
Force pilot, Flight Lieutenant Frank Rush. Born in Canada, his parents were from
the Falls Road. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with bar while flying
with the No. 502 ‘Ulster’ Squadron Coastal Command.
This article is only an insight into the vast stories that
are housed in the hangars of the Ulster Aviation Society. If you become a
member you will have access to their regularly journal which has endless
articles on Irish aviation history. You can also keep an eye out for in your
local bookstore for titles by the Societies members such as Guy Warner, Ernie Cromie
and Joe Gleeson.
The Ulster Aviation Society turns 50 next year. Keep an eye
out for celebration events. All visits from the public are organised by prior
arrangement. We cater for group visits, school trips (children’s groups should
be around 30 max.) and tour groups.
By Michael J. Whelan – Curator: Irish
Air Corps Museum (Images courtesy of Irish Air Corps Photographic Section)
Published Winter 2015
It is impossible to
invest in an article of this size the magnitude of the career James Fitzmaurice
who, during an adventurous lifetime; had survived the trenches of the Great
War, was one of Ireland’s first military flying officers and had become a world
famous aviator and an early pioneer of aviation’s potential in Ireland and
abroad. But his eventful and courageous life during the dawning of the aviation
story in the first half of the 20th Century has all but been neglected.
James M.C. Fitzmaurice D.F.C.
Early Life
James was born on 6 January
1898, when the family – Michael Fitzmaurice and Mary Agnes O’Riordan – were
living on the North Circular in Dublin City. When he was aged four, in 1902,
the family moved to a house on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, where
James attended St. Mary’s Christian Brothers School until shortly before his
sixteenth birthday. But James had a hankering for adventure and the life of a
soldier was a good place to find it.
Ireland at this time
was still part of the British Empire and much of the politics of the day
centred around the possibilities or otherwise of Irish autonomy. James seems to
have paid particular attention to the political scene and the seismic events
happening around the world and their impact at home. By 1913 Irish society was
fracturing over the divisive issue of Home Rule with the Ulster Volunteer Force
being formed to oppose its introduction and the Irish Volunteers to defend
it. Both movements had started in earnest
to covertly procure weapons and train thousands of volunteers for the
possibility of civil war.
The Great War
In early 1914, James
was said to have joined the Irish Volunteers and may have taken part in the
landing of weapons at Howth Harbour. In August of that same year the Great War
broke out and he immediately enlisted in a cadet company of the 7th Battalion Leinster
Fusiliers, he was sixteen years of age. His father, discovering this, managed
to pull him out. The required age for enlistment in the army was a minimum of
nineteen years but many boys had lied about their age in the rush to take part
in the war. James, however, was adamant and by 1915 he had re-enlisted in the
17th Lancers – the Death or Glory Boys – famed for their part in the actions at
Balaclava during the Crimean War. He was still very much underage when he
reported to the Curragh Camp in Co. Kildare for training, where he would learn
the skills of the mounted soldier. James must have made an impression as he was
soon promoted to Lance Corporal. But he soon discovered that the skills of a well-trained
mounted trooper would not lend themselves to the warfare being conducted in the
trenches of the Western Front.
News of the ever-worsening
conditions at the Front must have been received with anxious trepidations when
James arrived at the vast infantry training camp at Etampes in France in May
1916. James, now seventeen years old, was given the news that they would be
going into the trenches as ordinary infantry soldier. The opposing front lines
of the two warring armies were separated in many cases only by mere yards of
No-Man’s Land. The arriving drafts of Lancers were split up and sent to various
infantry units. The urgent need for replacements in formations due to the
attrition of the fighting meant that Irishmen didn’t always end up in Irish
Regiments and after handing in his Lance, sword and kit he was posted to the
7th Battalion the Queen’s Royal (West Surrey) Regiment, the Second Regiment of
Foot, which at the time formed part of the 55th Brigade of the British 18th
Division who had been in almost continuous action since arriving in theatre ten
months earlier. The regiment’s survivors were by now very seasoned soldiers and
after a crash course on how to be an infantryman James felt he would benefit
from their experiences.
By this time plans were well advanced for the greatest assault of the war, which would turn out to be one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. James’ first exposure to actual warfare involved transporting food, equipment and other essentials up to the front lines over the broken ground of earlier battles, the detritus marking the routes with dead bodies, his first experience of seeing death. But he would go on to fight in many actions including the long Battle of the Somme, the first day of which saw over 60,000 casualties alone and in September his battalion took part in the successful but costly assault on the infamous and well defended German enclave known as the Schwaben Redoubt. In this and later actions James was noted for his daring and courage, often volunteering for night patrols and trench raids but he himself put these down to: ‘only going on those nerve-wracking expeditions because I dreaded staying in the trenches’.
Royal Flying Corps
and Royal Air Force
He was injured twice
during his active service on the Western Front. By the last months of the war
James had received a commission and was successful in applying for pilot
training with the Royal Flying Corps. By November 1918, he was eager to return
to the Front but when his orders for sailing came through on the 11th, it was
too late. Armistice meant James’ war was over but he did however serve in the
Army of Occupation in 1919 with the Army Air Corps and it was during this
period that he was selected to undertake the First Night Mail Flight (Folkstone
to Bologne) and later for the Cape to Cairo Flight, the latter never getting
off the ground. The experimental Air Mail Service ended soon after and between
September and November 1919 James commanded the 6th Wing Working Party of the
Royal Air Force assigned to the selling off of surplus useful materials and
paying and demobilising of staff at six de-activated aerodromes in England. In
December his orders came through and James was a civilian once more, spending
the best part of the next two years selling insurance for North British and
Mercantile Insurance Company. He was recalled to the newly formed Royal Air
Force on a short-term commission of four to six years in May of 1921 with No. 5
Fighter Squadron but resigned again in August of that year.
The Fledgling Irish
Air Corps and the Crossing of the Atlantic
The all metal Junkers W.33 aircraft ‘Bremen’ prior to take off in Baldonnel Aerodrome. (Image courtesy of Irish Air Corps Photographic Section)
In 1922 James joined
the fledgling Irish Army Air Service in Dublin following the end of the War of
Independence and the formation of the Irish Free State. The first dozen pilots
were all Great War veterans. He served for the duration of the Irish Civil War
and by October 1925 he was second in command in of the now named Irish Air
Corps based at Baldonnel Aerodrome. On 16 September 1927, his first physical
attempt at crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air with Captain R.H. MacIntosh
‘All Weather Mac’ in their single engine Fokker F.VII called, Princess Xenia,
G-EBTS aircraft was beaten back by weather after 500 miles. However on 12 April
1928, he once again took off from Baldonnel as co-pilot on the first successful
East-West non-stop transatlantic flight with Herman Koehl, a German Great War
veteran, and Baron Gunther Von Hunefeld as navigator in an all metal Junkers
W.33 aircraft registered D-1167 named the Bremen. On route to New York and
roughly half way across the Atlantic, the Bremen encountered severe weather
conditions and mechanical problems and as a result the crew found themselves somewhat
off course and worried about the success of their mission. Changing course the
crew landed on a frozen reservoir on Greenly Island in Newfoundland 39 and a
1/2 hours after departing Baldonnel placing themselves and Ireland on the
romantic mantle of world aviation history. They would be given many accolades
beginning with United States President, Calvin Coolidge, presenting the crew
with the Distinguished Flying Cross, the first to be awarded to non-American
Citizens. On returning to Dublin they were given the Freedom of the City before
briefly meeting the abdicated Kaiser in Holland.
Captain James Fitzmaurice with Herman Koehl and Baron Gunther Von Hunefeld after their successful Trans-Atlantic Flight. (Image courtesy of Irish Air Corp Photographic Section)
Later Years
Captain Fitzmaurice
was promoted to Major and in August to Colonel, his new rank backdated one year
with pay. In February, the following year he resigned from the Irish Air Corps
and spent some years in the United States and Europe, while involved in trying
unsuccessfully to get a number of aviation related ventures off the ground.
During the Second World War he operated a club for servicemen in London and in
the late 1940s returned to Ireland in pursuit of work. Although celebrated in
Europe at various times for his courageous feat over the Atlantic in 1928,
James felt that he was forgotten at home in Ireland. He had always felt that
the Irish authorities neglected his achievements and pursuits. Fitzmaurice,
possibly because of post-independence Irish nationalistic conditioning towards
anything English, was to a certain extent the victim of his own successes and
what was said to be his invented English accent and persona.
Remarking on his
earlier application to the Irish authorities to back an all Irish transatlantic
bid using the Martinsyde type A, MkII aircraft – the ‘Big Fella’ (famed for
being purchased and kept on standby to retrieve Michael Collins from London
during the possible failure of the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations in 1921 and
being the first airframe owned by the Provisional Irish People and subsequently
the Irish Air Service in 1922), he was quoted:
On Sunday, 27 September 2015, Brigadier General Paul Fry – General Officer Commanding the Irish Air Corps, during a ceremony in Portlaoise town, laid a wreath on behalf of the Air Corps at the Fitzmaurice Memorial to remember the life and career of Colonel James Fitzmaurice on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of his death. (Photo by Airwoman Laura McHale, Irish Air Corps Photographic Section)
‘If you have the
misfortune to do anything useful for Ireland, they (the Irish) do everything
possible to destroy you. Then when you are dead, they dig you up and laud your
praises as a bolster to their own mediocrity’.
By the early 1960’s
James had become frail and was living in Dublin at lodgings of various
standards. The Irish Air Corps Museum collection holds a handwritten letter
from James dated 1962, in which he thanks the officers for not forgetting him
in his infirmities and for sending a £10 Hamper sent to tide him over the
Christmas after they had discovered his rough circumstances. Soon afterwards he
visited his old command at Baldonnel (by this time renamed Casement Aerodrome)
and met some old comrades from the Bremen days. James died in Baggot St.
Hospital on Sunday 26 September 1965, age 67. He was given a State Funeral, his
coffin covered by the Irish Tricolour, and buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in
Dublin.
The Irish Air Corps
are home to several artefacts and paraphernalia related to Fitzmaurice’s
military career as well as the marked site of the Bremen departure in 1928.
South Dublin County Council has also marked a number of sites using Fitzmaurice
as a place-name in the county. In 1998 Portlaoise County Council erected a
monument in the shape of the Bremen wing to their adopted aviator. The memorial
has been recently refurbished and is cared for at Fitzmaurice Place by members
of the Irish United Nations Veterans Association.
