Contributor: NFNPA Archaeology

Samuel Kinkead – Funeral of a WWII Flying Ace

On 12 March 1928, World War I flying ace Flight Lieutenant Samuel Marcus ‘Kink’ Kinkead took off in a seaplane from RAF Calshot in the New Forest. The nation watched on as he attempted to become the first pilot to break the 300 mph barrier, but the flight was to be his last.

As Kink increased his speed and flew low across the water, tragedy struck. The plane inexplicably nosedived, and one of the Great War’s most celebrated pilots died instantly as he struck the water. You can read more about the world air speed attempt in 1928 here: For a World Air Speed Record – 1928

He was laid to rest four days later at All Saints Church in Fawley, where his grave still stands as testament to his skill and bravery.

British Pathe has film footage of this funeral at Fawley

Funeral of Kinkead Flyer (1928)

Video Description: Funeral procession of RAF / Royal Air Force Flyer Kinkead on a country road. Soldiers marching; performing slow-motion drill w/ rifles. Funeral procession continues; vehicle carrying coffin. Many airmen walk behind. Arrival at graveyard / cemetery. Airmen lift coffin and carry it through gates; walking slowly behind priests. Old tombstones in FG behind fence; ceremony going on in BG. Then shot of soldiers giving gun salute.
FILM ID:2402.02

The fatal crash was a dramatic end to an extraordinary life, which saw Kink win six decorations for securing at least 33 victories as a fighter pilot on the Western Front and against the Bolsheviks in Russia. He also excelled as a pilot in the annual seaplane race for the Schneider Trophy; at Venice in 1927 he flew at 277 mph to break the biplane seaplane world speed record.

The impact of Kink’s life was illustrated by the reaction to his death. His achievements were marked by a leader article in The Times, and by the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, who told the House of Commons that, had he lived, he might well have reached the very top of the Royal Air Force.

Julian Lewis MP, author of ‘Racing Ace’, the biography of Samuel Kinkead, said: ‘Kink was a real-life ‘Boy’s Own’ hero, venerated by his brother officers. A group of them set up a special fund to pay for his portrait in the RAF Club in London, his trophy at Cranwell and his memorial stone at All Saints, Fawley. His seaplane, designed by R J Mitchell, was a direct ancestor of the Spitfire.

‘The test pilots who flew such machines were the astronauts of their day, and it is right that their bravery should always be remembered.’

Schneider Trophy Overview

The Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, commonly called the Schneider Trophy or Schneider Prize, was a trophy awarded annually (and later, biannually) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying boats.

Announced in 1912 by Jacques Schneider, a French financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, the competition offered a prize of approximately £1,000. The race was held twelve times between 1913 and 1931. It was intended to encourage technical advances in civil aviation but quickly became a contest for pure speed. However, the race was significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II, including the iconic Supermarine Spitfire. It is also demonstrated between the winning speed in 1913 which was 45 mph and the winning speed of 380 mph in 1931.

The race each year was hosted by the previous winning country. The races were supervised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the aero club in the hosting country. If a aero club won three races in five years, they would retain the trophy.

The first competition was held on 16 April 1913, at Monaco. It was won by a French Deperdussin at an average speed of 73.56 km/h (45.71 mph).

The British won in 1914 with a Sopwith Tabloid at 139.74 km/h (86.83 mph).

After a break for World War I, the competition resumed in 1919 at Bournemouth where an Italian team won. They were later disqualified and the race was voided. In 1920 in Venice no other nation entered so the Italians once gain hosted and won in 1921 when the French entry did not start.

After 1921, an additional requirement was added: the winning seaplane had to remain moored to a buoy for six hours without human intervention.

In 1922 in Naples the British and French competed with the Italians. The British private entry, a Supermarine Sea Lion II, was the victor.

The 1923 trophy, contested at Cowes, went to the Americans

In 1924 there was no competition as no other nation turned out to face the Americans.

In 1925 at Chesapeake Bay the Americans won again, ahead of the British Gloster III and the Italian entry. Two British planes did not compete as both R. J. Mitchell’s Supermarine S.4 and the other Gloster III were damaged before the race. Footage of the Captain Broad and the Gloucester Napier III at Calshot can be viewed on this site: here

In 1926, the Italians returned with a Macchi M.39 and won against the Americans at Hampton Roads.

In 1927 at Venice there was a strong British entry with government backing and RAF pilots provided for Supermarine, Gloster, and Shorts. Supermarine’s Mitchell-designed S.5s took first and second places. You can read more about this competition: Here

1927 was the last annual competition, the event then moving onto a biannual schedule to allow for more development time.

In 1929, at Calshot, Supermarine won again in the Supermarine S.6 with the new Rolls-Royce R engine with an average speed of 528.89 km/h (328.64 mph). Both Britain and Italy entered two new aircraft and a backup plane from the previous race.

In 1931 the British government withdrew support, but a private donation of £100,000 from Lucy, Lady Houston, allowed Supermarine to compete and win on 13 September against only British opposition, with reportedly half a million spectators lining the beachfronts. The Italian, French, and German entrants failed to ready their aircraft in time for the competition. The remaining British team set both a new world speed record (610 km/h (380 mph)) and won the trophy outright with a third straight win. The following days saw the winning Supermarine S.6B further break the world speed record twice, making it the first craft to break the 400 mph barrier on 29 September at an average speed of 655.8 km/h (407.5 mph).

Development of the other entrants did not cease there. The proposed Italian entrant (the Macchi M.C.72) which pulled out of the contest due to engine problems later went on to set two new world speed records. In 1934 it broke the 700 km/h barrier with an average speed of 709.202 km/h (440.678 mph). This speed remains the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engined seaplane.

International Schneider Trophy (Photograph kindly provided by Andy Jennings)

Setley Prisoner of War Camp – Overview

Prisoner of War Camp 65 on Setley Plain was built in 1941 to hold Italian Prisoners of War. From 1944 the camp went on to hold German prisoners, and continued to do so until 1947. The camp was then handed over to the New Forest Rural District Council to house young families of returning servicemen, previously housed in Nissen huts at Beaulieu aerodrome. The camp had a shop, run by Harry Munden, and was in existence until the early fifties, when sufficient permanent council housing had been built.

During the war years, each morning and evening lorries were seen taking prisoners to and from their designated jobs in the Forest with a single guard, armed with his rifle. Italian POWs were photographed working at Denny Sawmill, Lyndhurst and there are photographs of the German POWs working in the gardens of local residents in Brockenhurst.

POWs also worked on the land and on the British Pathe website is a film Italian Prisoners 1941 showing POWs helping to get the harvest in on an English Farm. We don’t think it was filmed in the New Forest.

In 1943 following the Italian surrender, 100,000 Italians volunteered to work as ‘co-operators’. The camp became more like a hostel as the Italians were found new homes.  Particularly after D-Day in 1944 German POWs need to be accommodated and Setley Camp 65 became a POW camp once again.

These were all “low risk” prisoners, happy their war was over, there are no known incidents involving searches for escaped prisoners. More high risk prisoners were housed at one of Camp 65’s satellite camps on the Isle of White and the very high risk POWs found themselves in camps in the north of the UK.

At the end of the war efforts were made to repatriate all prisoners of war and many returned to Germany. The project team is aware of three ex POWs that chose to stay in the UK after the war hoping to make a new life for themselves.

The German camp had a number of satellite camps or hostels, some of which were on the Isle of Wight. The translated Newsletter (No1.) helps to shed light on these hostels.

Osborne House
The whole camp community had waited with great anticipation for this evening, which was being held in commemoration of Osborne House’s first anniversary. On Sunday evening the time had finally come. The dining barrack was adorned with flowers and greenery to make it look as inviting and cosy as possible.

Newclose
A hostel which houses 80 men, is situated in deep isolation south of Newport. From the well-known mirror* a path leads to the hostel which snuggles its back to the hill as if looking for shelter. Plants flourish abundantly in the small hostel garden. Exotic trees with wonderful blossoms surround it and even now display a markedly summery appearance.
*Neither translation explains the use of this word

Beatrice Avenue
The hostel is a camp with 50 men, situated at the Southern edge of the town East Cowes with wonderful views over West and East Cowes and the sea. Apart from the round tents, the camp also boasts a barrack for dining and reading.

Whitewell (Whitwell)
True, we are one of the smallest hostels on the Isle of Wight, but we are in a beautiful location and housed in an old fashioned, castle like mansion which is surrounded by a respectable fruit and vegetable garden. Such a spacious house and such a beautiful garden need a lot of maintenance which can only be done in our spare time.

The possible locations of these sites are shown in the Google Earth images, showing the 1945 aerial photographs, included in this article. We will be uploading the translated text from these newsletters once they become available. Following the “documents and artefacts” link to find out more.

Further reading relating to Setley Camp that can be found on New Forest Knowledge:

  • Follow the Setley Camp time line to see the main events relating to the camp.
  • Follow 3D model to see our efforts to reconstruct the camp.
  • Follow families to see peoples recollections of living at the camp after the war. if you lived there please add a comment with your recollections.
  • Follow Post war civilian occupation to see some photographs of the camp from the late 1940s.
  • Read more about one of the Italian POWs Benedetto Spano.
  • Many item were made by the POWs for local residents, for example find out about the Italian: chess set.
  • A range of documents and artefacts have come to light from the camp, find out more

Memories of Setley

we have also produced an animated flythrough of the camp’s 3D reconstruction.

3D reconstruction of World War II Prisoner of War Camp

Shappen Bottom Rifle Range at Burley

Following recent work to digitise a family photo album shown to us by Dionis Macnair a couple of photos with their captions jumped out.

They were photos of the Ladies Rifle Club shooting at Shappen Bottom in 1913. They show 3 ladies firing off along the rifle range one of whom was Dionis’ mum Eleanor Ruth Dent. The two other ladies are Cathy Thompson and Mary Violet Dent; Eleanor’s mother.

The rifle range does not feature on the 1943 training map of the New Forest and is not mentioned in reference to the three Rifle Volunteer Corps ranges that can be found in the New Forest at Brockenhurst, Burley and Lyndhurst.

A quick bit of research with historic maps available from the National Library of Scotland shows the range in use, but recorded as ‘Old Rifle Range’ on the 1870 Ordnance Survey Map, it is marked as disused by the 1896 edition and doesn’t feature on the 1907 edition at all even though these photos from 1913 show it still in use.

Looking at the Lidar it is possible to see some disturbed ground near the firing off point, but not much else.

The fact that this small range fired across tracks and its location, and lack of link to the Rifle Volunteer Corps or later military training suggests that this was more of a local community range potentially used for training for deer shooting or similar.

We currently believe these are the oldest known photos of one of the New Forest rifle ranges in use. However, please let us know of any older photos from any of the other ranges.

Further articles on New Forest Knowledge relating to Dionis McNair and her mother Eleanor Ruth Dent

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent – Schooner Fenna

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded New Forest Coastal Heritage Project a number of shipwrecks within and just outside the western Solent were investigated with volunteers and filmed for a dissemination DVD this is the story of one of those wrecks.

Fenna

During the 19th century, schooners – sailing ships with two or masts, the foremast typically being smaller than the mainmast – were a very common sight in coastal waters. Able to navigate narrow and shallow creeks and estuaries, they proved invaluable in delivering cargoes to a wide variety of ports.

One such schooner was the Dutch vessel Fenna, the wreck of which lies beneath this marker buoy. The Fenna was a 2 masted schooner of 172 tons, constructed of timber in Hoogezand, near Groningen, The Netherlands, in 1863. From 1870 she had been in the charge of captain J Mulder.

In early March 1881, the Fenna was berthed at Amsterdam, where she took on a general cargo comprising bar iron, iron in barrels and sheet glass in cases, 230 tons in all. She departed Amsterdam with a crew of 5 hands all told and commenced her voyage for Messina and Trieste, Italy. Her route would have taken her west across the southern North Sea into the English Channel, into the Atlantic Ocean and across the Bay of Biscay, through the Strait of Gibraltar and east across the Mediterranean Sea and thence the Tyrrhenian Sea to her first port of call, Messina, situated on the north east tip of Sicily at the southern tip of Italy. From there she would have sailed through the Ionian Sea into the Adriatic Sea to reach her destination of Trieste, close to the Italian border with Slovenia, a lengthy and substantial voyage of about 3500 miles. Circumstances intervened, however, and Fenna never reached her destination.

On 11 March 1881, Fenna was in the vicinity of the Isle of Wight, having battled gales since she left Amsterdam. She had sailed west through the English Channel, experiencing bad weather all the way. If the gales were not bad enough, Fenna’s situation became much worse when the 18 year old ship began to leak. All through the day of the 11th March water inside the ship continued to gain, and her crew realised they faced a hopeless task. The vessel had become waterlogged and as a result, disabled. As it grew dark, the crew consulted with captain Mulder, and a decision was made to abandon the ship. Taking to the vessel’s boat, having had the time only to save their personal effects, they stood by the Fenna until, 30 minutes later she sank beneath the waves.

Captain Mulder and his crew headed north in the darkness until they sighted a red light, which proved to be the end of Bournemouth Pier. There, they were given refreshments and directed to Poole, where they made a safe landing, later obtaining assistance from the Dutch consul.

A few days later, a local steamer, the Ventnor, reported sighting a ship’s mast, standing up from what must have been a wreck, in a position reported at the time as about 2 miles west of the Needles Lighthouse. This was the final resting place of the Fenna.

The wreck of the Fenna was not located or charted until more than a century later. When the wreck was dived, its identity was at first unknown. Divers reported that most of the structure of the ship was gone, apart from her bottom planking and parts of the keel, but a distinctive cargo was still there. In the centre of the wreck stood a pile of neatly stacked bar iron, having the appearance in length and size of railway lines. Nearby, numerous stacks of sheet glass were evident – somewhat smaller in size than greenhouse glass. The wooden packing crates had long since rotted away. Also present were concreted barrel shapes, presumably containing the part cargo of ‘iron in barrels.’ As with the packing cases for the glass, the wooden barrels themselves had rotted away. A small quantity of wrought iron nails were recovered, still in remarkably good condition.

The type and description of cargo, together with the location of the wreck, was sufficient to identify the wreck as that of the Fenna. She lies on a flat sand and shingle seabed, and her cargo of bar iron stands about 2.5 metres high. The once common schooners have now disappeared into history, and it is rare to be able to dive on the remains of one of these vessels.

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent

You can find out more about some of the other wrecks in this series:

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent – MV Margaret Smith

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded New Forest Coastal Heritage Project a number of shipwrecks within and just outside the western Solent were investigated with volunteers and filmed for a dissemination DVD this is the story of one of those wrecks.

Motor Vessel Margaret Smith

The Margaret Smith was a Southampton registered dredger and sand carrier of 309 tons, which got into difficulties on 28 June 1978 while off Cowes, carrying a cargo of gravel.  A radio call from the ship, under the command of Skipper Dennis Harman, reported she had lost power and was drifting off Gurnard Ledge.  The ship was taking in water, too much for the pumps to handle, and there was also a suggestion her cargo had shifted.  Her crew of four men were clearly in some danger and assistance was requested.

A Royal Navy helicopter from the Search and Rescue Flight at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent was despatched to the scene.  At that time rescues were undertaken by the Royal Navy, HM Coastguard not having the capability to take responsibility for such incidents as is the case now.   Arriving on site, it was clear the Margaret Smith and her crew were in serious trouble.  The ship had developed a severe list to starboard and the sea was washing across her deck. One of the crew was already in the ship’s life raft, which was still tethered to the sinking ship, while the remaining men were preparing to abandon ship and board the life raft.  The helicopter lowered her diver to the stricken vessel, but the Margaret Smith was going fast, and the diver ordered the last crew members to jump into the water before the ship capsized.  They jumped in and the Navy diver cut the life raft free before also jumping in, swimming away from the sinking ship and towing the life raft clear.  Within 30 seconds, Margaret Smith went right over and capsized.  The diver and 4 crew were winched aboard the helicopter to safety.

As the tide ebbed to the west, the current took the capsized ship, completely upside down, towards Yarmouth, followed by tugs and a police launch.  Eventually, the Margaret Smith was taken in tow and she was tethered to one of the Admiralty buoys to the east of Yarmouth off Bouldner. The next day, her remaining buoyancy exhausted, the ship sank in 15 metres of water.  At first, hopes were entertained that the ship would be raised and scrapped, but this never took place.

The Margaret Smith was completed in 1943, having been built by J Harker Ltd, Knottingley.  Her former names were Sand Wren ex Pen Adur ex Lerryu ex Morten Cobbett.  She was 43 metres in length and 6.4 metres in breadth, and was powered by oil engines of 5 cylinders. Today, the wreck remains substantially intact, lying on her side and standing 5 or 6 metres clear of the shingle seabed.  Still looking very much like a ship, she has not yet begun to break up.

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent

You can find out more about some of the other wrecks in this series:

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent – SS Serrana

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded New Forest Coastal Heritage Project a number of shipwrecks within and just outside the western Solent were investigated with volunteers and filmed for a dissemination DVD this is the story of one of those wrecks.

Steamship Serrana

Lying just of the Needles is the is the stern section of a wreck from the First World War. The remains comprise engines, boilers and numbers 3 and 4 holds of the British steamer Serrana. Serrana, 3677 tons, was built in South Shields in 1905 by the well known shipbuilder John Readhead. The ship frequently voyaged from the UK to the Caribbean, carrying passengers as well as cargo. With the advent of the First World War the ship was at considerable risk from submarine attack, and, in common with many others vessels, she was defensively equipped with a 4”stern gun and, less commonly, two 7.5” howitzers, manned by gunners from the Royal Marines Light Infantry and Royal Naval Reserve.

On 19 January 1918, having loaded a general cargo comprising coal, general goods and mail, at Immingham and London, and taken on board 12 passengers, Serrana, with a crew of 46 and a pilot, departed London bound for Plymouth for orders, and thence to the West Indies. Three days later, in the early hours on 22 January, the ship was steaming at 9 knots without lights in a westerly direction down the English Channel, following route instructions issued by the Admiralty. The night was intensely dark and drizzle was falling. When in a position reported to have been about 10 miles west of St Catherine’s Point, Serrana was torpedoed without warning by the German U-boat, UB-35, under the command of Oberleutnant zur Zee Karl Stoeter. Serrana’s Master, captain Albert Maskell, was on the ship’s bridge and reported, ‘An explosion occurred on the port side of the ship amidships with huge clouds of steam. The ship commenced to buckle up amidships and in less than 5 minutes water was washing across decks amidships.’ He ordered distress rockets to be fired and intended to send an SOS on the ship’s radio, but all power had been lost and no message could be sent.

The ship was quickly abandoned and the survivors clambered aboard the ship’s boats and rafts. In the confusion, two men drowned while trying to save themselves, and three stokers were killed by the explosion in the stokehold. A number of other men were badly scalded after the main stokehold steam pipe burst.

Fortunately for the survivors of the Serrana, vessels from the southern Auxilary Patrol Force were at sea, and their crews felt the shock of the explosion and saw the rockets of distress. Proceeding to the scene, they found the Serrana in a sinking condition, by then some 11 miles south of the Needles. The survivors were picked up and assistance requested to attempt to save the ship. This duly arrived in the form of two tugs and steam drifters and the ship was taken in tow stern first, her propeller by this time being clear of the water and her bow clear of the water. She proved extremely difficult to manage, sheering to one side and with seas breaking over her amidships, but eventually the procession reached the entrance to the Needles Channel about an hour before high water. It seemed they had succeeded in saving the ship. However, at this critical point, the swell off the end of the Bridge Reef was such that it caused the towing hawser to part, and Serrana drifted towards the reef. Soon afterwards, she grounded less than half a mile west of the Needles Lighthouse. Efforts to move her continued as the swell died away and the ebb tide set in, but the tugs were unable to move her and she was abandoned for the time being. They intended to resume the tow at the next high water.

In the early hours of the next day, however, the lighthouse keeper reported that the swell had risen again and that Serrana was beginning to break in two. A few hours later, her fate was sealed as the stern section finally broke away and floated free on the flood tide, drifting north east and sinking a quarter of a mile away. She immediately became a serious hazard to navigation as her derricks were visible at all states of the tide

In the years at the end of the war, the stern section was dispersed by the Admiralty in order to increase the depth of water above the wreck. Despite this, much remains on the seabed, in 18 metres of water. Her two boilers are prominent and the steam engine lies on its side. The main stern gun lies on the sea floor close to the stern. The bow section of the wreck lies a quarter of a mile to the south west, slowly rotting away on the Bridge Reef where she grounded in 1918.

Serrana was just one of 55 ships lost to enemy action of the Isle of Wight during the First World War.

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent

You can find out more about some of the other wrecks in this series:

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent – SS War Knight

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded New Forest Coastal Heritage Project a number of shipwrecks within and just outside the western Solent were investigated with volunteers and filmed for a dissemination DVD this is the story of one of those wrecks.

Steamship War Knight

SS War Knight was a British Merchant steamer of 7,951grt owned by The Shipping Controller, managed by Furness, Withy & Co, London

On the 24th March 1918 when on route from New York to Britain with supplies she collided with the SS O. B. Jennings off St. Catherines head and then hit a mine. She was beached in Freshwater Bay and declared total loss.

SS War Knight was without doubt the most famous Island wreck of World War I. On 24 March, 1918 early in the morning travelling in a convoy without lights due to U boat fears she collided with the American tanker OB Jennings who was carrying a cargo of naphtha, the resulting fire killed a large number of crew.

Two destroyers towed them to the Island. The OB Jennings burning for 10 days in Sandown Bay before being torpedoed. She was re-floated and repaired, only to hit a mine in the Atlantic shortly afterwards.

However the War Knight struck a mine outside Watcombe Bay whilst under tow, and was then sunk by gunfire to remove potential hazards to other ships. The fire finally stopped, but her cargo of bacon, oil, rubber, lard and flour was spilt into the sea. Since rationing was in force the people of Freshwater considered this a gigantic stroke of luck, and soon carried crates of the remains away. Thirty-eight people were later arrested; the train which took them to Newport was nicknamed the ‘Bacon And Lard Special’.

You can read more about the SS War Knight’s story on the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War website including information on the crew. This also includes the opportunity to take a virtual tour of the very dispersed wreck site.

Shipwrecks of the Western Solent

You can find out more about some of the other wrecks in this series:

Sister’s Accommodation for No.1 New Zealand General Hospital, Brockenhurst

A selection of photos of Nurses in Brockenhurst. At least three different houses are visible in these photos that are recorded as Marlpool in the photo albums from the National Army Museum of New Zealand. The New Zealand sister/nurse’s accommodation formed part of the No.1 New Zealand General Hospital.

These photos have been made available by the National Army Museum New Zealand and the whole collection can be found tagged as Brockenhurst here: Brockenhurst

They are from photo albums of nurses: Sister Mary Eleanor Gould, Elfrida Anne Parkinson and patient Major Henry Masterton Clark

These photos depict general views of the accommodation and then a few group shots show nurses and convalescent soldiers in the grounds relaxing or undertaking various tasks such as gardening or tending rabbit hutches.

You can find out more about the activities, sites and stories associated with the hospital by clicking here: No.1 New Zealand General Hospital

SRA1 – Saunders Roe Jet Flying Boat

The Saunders-Roe SR./A.1 was a prototype flying boat fighter aircraft designed and built by Saunders-Roe. It was tested by the Royal Air Force shortly after World War II with the intention to provide a fast seaplane which would be ideally suited to conditions in the Pacific theatre, and could turn any relatively calm area of coast into an airbase.

Although the aircraft never received an official name, it was referred to by company workers as “Squirt”.

The first prototype TG263, piloted by Geoffrey Tyson, flew on 16 July 1947 and completed several powered test flights on and over water in the period following. It was found to offer strong performance and good handling characteristics. During one test flight, both engines failed the pilot, forcing the aircraft into a rather precarious – though successful for the pilot and aircraft – unpowered landing. Poor weather then delayed additional testing for the short term.

The second prototype – TG267 – was finally on hand to further the testing phase for SARO. Its first flight was recorded on April 30th, 1948 but this airframe only saw limited action. However, the programme suffered a severe – and fatal – setback on September 17th, 1949 when TG267 was lost during manoeuvres (killing its test pilot in the process).

The third, and final, prototype of the series became TG271 which was given more powerful Beryl turbojet engines to help it achieve better performance recorded its first flight on August 17th, 1948 and it was later wooing crowds over Farnborough in September during the classic British-hosted air show. It was this airframe that managed to record a maximum recorded speed of 624 miles per hour during dive testing. Unfortunately, TG271 was also lost when, upon landing in the Solent, its hull was pierced by something in the water, causing it to cartwheel several times split open and take on water and sink. The pilot Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown was luckily dragged unconscious from the wreckage and survived, but the aircraft was a complete loss.

With only TG263 remaining, testing continued into the early 1950s though with far more reduced interest on the part of the Royal Air Force – particularly with the rise in improved land-based and carried-based fighter forms. The programme was eventually written off and not furthered beyond the three airframes contracted for. The dedicated flying boat fighter age never was as it gave way to more advanced, jet-powered swept-wing concepts appearing throughout the world.

The first prototype, serial number TG263, has been preserved and is on display at Solent Sky aviation museum in Southampton. Both other aircraft (TG267 and TG271) were lost in accidents during the four-year flight test programme.

Saunders Roe Jet Flying Boat (1947)

FILM ID:2403.16 – Film available on British Pathe

Description: Various repeated shots of the new Saunders Roe jet flying boat in flight, landing on water and taking off, during her first flying tests believed to be in the Solent. Two men in front of the microphone, older man is saying that he is very pleased with test results of the new flying boat – natural sound. He then asks the younger man, test pilot Geoffrey Tyson what he thinks. CU. Jeffrey Tyson speaking- natural sound. He is also pleased, no major troubles to worry about.