IWM Project: Centennial Commemoration of the Great War... ←→ To enrol in our Research Groups associated with this Project ~ Poole Flying Boats Celebration * Then do please contact either David Seymour at our Office Address PFBC is now signed up to this Project which will build to 2014, Charity No. 1123274 or email PFBC’s Archivist Aimee… [email protected] alongside an impressive array of organisations + foreign partners. Trustee Special Newsletter: Summer 2011 Surprisingly there is a perceived deficit in Poole’s History during the period of the Great War ~ especially with regards to various It is anticipated that PFBC’s Office will become available as the Centre for our Research Groups, so that Meetings there can be aspects associated with the Admiralty, its Works & Seaplanes etc. THE So here is an opportunity to fill in many gaps in our knowledge, arranged for members of these in quiet and pleasant surroundings. and for Members of PFBC to get involved in a landmark project . FRL ’s meteoric rise in refuelling techniques ' OPUS PFBC accordingly aims to develop the Great War research base recommenced postwar © and will include various relevant local perspectives; social history, over Poole Harbour ... personal accounts & culture focussed on these identified subjects *PFBC aims for new (together with any other appropriate areas for potential research): horizons during 2011 Sandbanks Lilliput • Channel Patrol by Flying Boats & Seaplanes of mid S. Coast Sector Salterns Brownsea Is. Portland to Calshot Welcome to our Newsletter ~ for Members, Friends & Supporters Poole Park THE ' OPUS in colour • Channel Patrol by Coastal Airships from their Base in Upton Woods Power Station www.pooleflyingboats.com ( ) New Quay Portland to St. Catherines Pt. IoW under constr’.

It’s so marvellous having an Office as a homebase for PFBC! Sterte • The Seaplane Detachment on Admiralty Land at Lake in 1917-1918 West Quay At long last we can store & display many items of the Archive Backwater Channel Lower • RAF Detachment & Seaplane Lighter at Sandbanks circa 1918-1919 Hamworthy etc., alongside meeting space, admin. stock and work surfaces. leading to Holes Bay Also thanks to the generosity of various donors, the Friends • Hill Richards & Co. Ltd. Shipyard, Lake + supporting infrastructure The above photo features not only improved modern techniques of PFBC has a Library Collection of 150+ books and folders: • The role of the Admiralty’s site and its wartime involvement at Lake in refuelling, but also the significant military dimension postwar. Details of these donations will be acknowledged accordingly.

• Royal Naval Cordite Factory Holton Heath + supporting infrastructure

HLM Ian Byard is researching the British Power Boat Co. Ltd’s Recently, Gemma Harris has graciously allowed PFBC to pick • Range of facilities accessed by Navy & Mercantile Marine at Poole 100+ titles from her late husband Jack’s (former Hon. Cmdre, time at Poole with its site No.2, and its Yards along West Quay,

• Channel Island Trade thro’ Poole & its protection during Great War in building fast boats, MTBs & Landing Craft in WW2 + postwar. Air of PFBC) wondrous collection of all matters related to the

• Royal Naval Auxiliary Patrol using Scottish MFVs based at Poole ... Acknowledged Maritime Historian Ian has local roots in Sterte: History of Aviation and Flying in general …The remainder inc. Anyone with info. about BPBC when at Poole please get in touch several thousand books, artefacts & memorabilia is due to go A ‘Zero’ Airship via [email protected] or write via our Office Address to new homes via specialist book auction dominic -winter .co.uk when moored in Gemma’s generosity has increased our Library Coll. threefold. the Upton Woods Postscript: During the Great War the Royal Navy had its quayside and during Great War railway sidings along Poole’s West Quay known as West Bay Sidings All of these books will be listed upon the PFBC website , and described in HLM Colin Stone ’s excellent book ‘Rails to Poole Harbour’ . are ready for loan to members of the Friends of PFBC + HLMs. (UK Charity 1123274) If someone wishes to volunteer as Librarian, please let us know. T HE PFBC TRUSTEES … Also, the Trustees are delighted to announce that the website Commodore: Ken Sanson (also Chair of the Trustees) V Commodore: Harry Alexander is receiving a major make -over with greatly increased capacity Flight Officer: Bertie Bowman for Memories, News, Views, Projects, Noteworthy + Weblinks. Flag Officers: Aimée Alexander (PFBC Archivist) This has been patiently put together by longterm supporter of Babs Plumbridge (Memories) *01202 737780 PFBC, Volunteer & Professional Webdesigner Sarah Austin...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Many thanks & congratulations to Sarah on this achievement ! Hon. Commodore, Air: David Mauleverer Senior ‘Hons.’ Patron: Lady Nadine Cobham and Happy thirty-fifth Poole Anniversary within PFBC Beachcomber as VP -LVE Southern Cross CONTACTS ‘PFBC ’ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ moored in Studland Bay, August 1976 Friends of PFBC: Bertie Bowman at... PFBC Honorary President: Jeremy Waters Parkstone Lib Bldng, 1 Britannia Rd., Ashley Cross, Poole BH14 8AZ Hon. Vice Pres: Leslie Dawson, June Topham, Victor Pitcher, Douglas Cook OBE, Colin Cruddas, Norman Hull, The same applies to offers of Membership of the PFBC Task Forces - Mike Phipp, Colin Pomeroy, and John Witcomb or assistance to benefit PFBC’s Archive: Contact Harry Alexander also including Ian Andrews (who Represents all of our HLMs) and for all other general enquiries ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ © PFBC - Mike Baverstock Coll. PFBC’s Email: [email protected] © 2011-12 i/c Friends: Bertie Bowman and Coordinator: Thelma Cooper © PFBC Sir Alan Sir Alan Cobham’s FRL and in-flight refuelling… Cobham KBE, AFC Sir Alan Cobham operated Flight Refuelling Ltd. (FRL ) in 1936

. ( 6 May 1894 - from RAF Ford’s Aerodrome in W. Sussex (nr. Littlehampton) 21 Oct 1973 ) With Imperial and Airspeed Aviation as major shareholders etc.

Member of RFC in the years 1936-39 FRL rapidly expanded to employ 100 men. in the Great War The technique which he at first pioneered was a grappled-line 1921: Europe Air Tour 17 cities 3 wks + looped-nose ( ie a grappled line shot from a Tanker Aircraft). ” : Piloted de Havillands for hire ! 1924: Won the Kings Cup Air Race The significant prize would be one of facilitating Transatlantic ” : To Near East & back 12,000 miles Flight that would be the source of immense UK national pride 1925: To Rangoon & back 17,000 miles with aircraft as large as the Empire C-Class (G-ADUV Cambria). pax S. Branker Head of Civil Av ’, but tackled the Himalayas alone Trials with Cambria occurred in 1938 from Ford over the Solent 1925/26: UK to Cape Town and Back using an Armstrong-Whitworth bomber converted as a Tanker. 1926: Flew via London to Australia and landed back on the Thames Cambria , and Caledonia , had been specially adapted with extra with an audience of one million capacity & lightened for their planned Transatlantic Crossings

1928: Flew Short Singapore FB some that took place in 1937 by these via Foynes - Botwood - Montreal. 20,000 mls - UK around Africa A southerly route Bermuda - Horta - Lisbon was also surveyed. 1932: Operated the Touring Air Show

aka ‘Cobham’s Flying Circus’ Following this series of survey flights, the decision was taken 1934: Founded Flight Refuelling Ltd. to construct 4 longer range S30 Empire C-Class Flying Boats 1935: Set up Airline to fly to the CIs. as being specifically modified for refuelling whilst in flight:~ 1938/9: FRL prewar experiments with Cabot , Caribou , Connemara ( sadly lost at Hythe ), and Clyde. inflight refuelling of the C-Class led to series of Atlantic Crossings In-flight refuelling trials were undertaken with G-AFCU Cabot. Postwar: FRL resumed expts - now over Then Tankers were put in place at Rineanna, Gander & Montreal Poole Harbour from Tarrant R’ton as refuelling would be from the reliable FRL Harrow Tankers, * Continued from column one ~ overpage so that a weekly service commenced using Cabot and Caribou Sir Alan Cobham was a prime-mover in determining the routes By returning to Poole in 1976, Southern Cross completed the Transatlantic to NY from Southampton in the Autumn of 1939. which became synonymous with the Empire Class Flying Boats. incredible global journey which had begun on 15th. Oct. 1947, when as a converted RAF Sunderland (JM715) it had departed Again in total 8 two-way crossings were completed in this series, PFBC is delighted that Colin Cruddas (one of our Hon. Vice Pres.) with payloads of just over 1,000lbs of mail ( with X20 in fuel)... from Poole for New Zealand then becoming ZK-AMH Auckland has agreed to give his much acclaimed Talk about Sir Alan C’s before various changes of ownership and registrations / names. Due to outbreak of War, Cabot flew in to Poole on 30th. Sept. ! pioneering flights which surveyed ways to Australia & S. Africa [Check out PFBC Archive web pdf ‘Love makes the world go around’] … and not forgetting his experimentation of in-flight refuelling In Autumn 1940 Poole became a Transatlantic airport in its own that was to make possible Transatlantic Crossings by the C-Class. Essentially based upon the design of Short S.23 Empire C-Class right in a new series: 4 by Clare (the replacement for Connemara)

Flying Boat, flagship of Imperial Airways (+ later BOAC), the and one by Clyde which as the 5th. was the last C-Class crossing. His pioneering survey flights were graphically recorded in three S.25 as the Sunderland had been extensively re-engineered for For during WW2 all such experimentation had to be suspended. very popular books: My Flight to the Cape & Back followed by military service. A prototype had been ready for October 1937. Postwar Sir Alan made famous Probe & Drogue (see overpage). Australia & Back and Twenty Thousand Miles in a Flying Boat . The significance of these 3 books with the impact on the British With subsequent upgrades there was a total of 749 completed... G-AFCU Cabot Public and those in the British Empire cannot be over-estimated. This was to become one of the most powerful and widely used refuelled from These heralded a Golden Era of travel by Flying Boat reaching flying boats throughout WW2 in service with the RAF, RAAF, FRL’s G-AFRL out across the Globe which leapt forward from the development RCAF, RNZAF (right up until 1967) and Norwegian Air Force. Harrow Tanker [Also the Portuguese Navy + in the postwar era with Fr. Aeronavale.] over the Solent of the Empire Class Flying Boats built by Shorts of Rochester !

As the Archivist to the Cobham Family, Colin is in his position Various Sunderland types were to be subsequently civilianised: to both inform & entertain us with a selection of unique photos. 27 Sunderlands (mainly MkIIIs) were converted as the Hythe Class also 10 MkIIIs & 5 MkVs which reached foreign civil registers; So our Celebration on Thurs. 6th. October is timed to take in the one Hythe Himalaya was upgraded to be the first Sandringham; 75th. Anniversary of the Empire C-Class of Imperial Airways ... 10 became Sandringham Vs (+ like the Hythes based at Poole); Our Celebration will acknowledge this fantastic leap forward in 3 as Sandringham MkVIIs - Bermuda Cl ; + 14 to foreign owners. British aircraft design and technology of a type of Flying Boat [Circa 2 dozen of the Flying Boats destined to operate out of foreign which became associated with Poole around the years of WW2. shores either were delivered via Poole, or were associated with here.]