Wheelwright-design NS3
The artist Gary M James has kindly provided this revealing image of the control car of NS3 during its modification by Flight Commander J. S. Wheelwright and station engineering officer Lieutenant Commander A. S. Abell at East Fortune, Scotland. Their scheme to improve the initial design configuration of the NS-Class was to combine the control and engine cars into one long enclosed car which allowed the control car section to be slung closer to the envelope. NS4 was similarly modified, with the remaining airships using a two-car ‘Kingsnorth’ design. It is also known that due to...
Read MoreThe Fiat racing legacy
So what is the connection between NS-Class airships and Mefistofele, Sir Ernest Eldridge’s world record racing car? The mighty 21.7 litre Fiat A12 engine…
Read MoreCrew of Coastal Airship C14
DECEMBER 1917 PO Lewry is standing middle of back row. Well-known airshipman Lt. P E Maitland is seated on the right. Reproduced with kind permission of Brian Turpin
Read MoreCaptain Walter K. F. G. Warneford
THE COMMANDER Walter Kerneys Francis Goodhall Warneford AFC was born on 19 July 1895, the only son of Walter and Mary Warneford. His father, Walter Wyndham Hayden Warneford, was Works Manager of the LNWR works at Crewe from 1910 to 1916 and then Wagon Superintendant at the LMS railway coach and wagon works at Earlestown. Walter’s family home was Lansdowne House, Huyton, Lancashire. By 1919 Walter was “a thick-set, hearty, athletic young man of 24, and a favourite amongst his fellow airshipmen”. Interestingly, Walter was a cousin of Reginald A. J. Warneford of the Royal Naval Air Service who...
Read MoreCaptain Arthur Stanley Elliott DSC
THE SECOND OFFICER – Without doubt, Arthur Stanley Elliott had an interesting career in the airship service. Known as an unlucky airshipman he certainly had his fair share of bad luck. Arthur was born on 18 February 1894 in Halifax, Yorkshire. His permanent home address is recorded as Charleston, Bridlington, Yorkshire. Before he joined the Royal Naval Air Service, Elliott was a junior officer in the Merchant Navy. Elliott was posted to Wormwood Scrubs on 2 January 1916 and then the Clement Talbot Works (RNAS Armoured Car Division) Wormwood Scrubs. According to his service record Elliott is...
Read MoreSergeant Charles Henry Lewry
THE COXWAIN – The first son of Henry Charles Lewry and Mary Jane Lewry Charles joined the Royal Navy in 1909 at the age of 16 and was transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916 and then to the RAF in 1918. As well as being awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal Charles was a holder of the Air Force Medal. The AFM was instituted, with the AFC, in June 1918, and was awarded to NCOs and men for courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy. Records show that Charles was transferred to the RNAS as Leading...
Read MoreSergeant Percy James Waghorn
COXWAIN – Born in Keston, Kent on 30 March 1893. Percy was a carpenter before he enlisted in the RNAS as an Air Mechanic 1 on 21 November 1914. His parents were William and Rebecca Waghorn. With a trade as an Airship Rigger he was promoted to Leading Mechanic on 1 August 1915. He was a Corporal on the formation of the RAF on 1 April 1918 and had been promoted to Sergeant by July 1919. Waghorn left effects to the value of £125 12s 6d to his father William Waghorn who was keeper of The Star Beerhouse, Capel Hill, Kent. Service numbers: F2161/202161 Many thanks to Becky Saunders for...
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