HERE LIES THE BODIES
OF
48 OFFICERS AND MEN
WHO PERISHED IN
H.M. AIRSHIP
R.101
AT
BEAUVAIS, FRANCE
OCT 5th 1930

Photographs Copyright © Martin Edwards 2001

GEORGE K ATKINS
PERCY BISHOP (Major)
RICHARD BLAKE
SIR WILLIAM SEFTON BRANCKER (Air Vice Marshall, RAF)
JAMES BUCK (Lord Thomson's attendant)
CHARLES A BURTON
ALEXANDER BUSHFIELD
SAMUEL CHURCH
REGINALD B B COLMORE (Wing Commander, RAF)
JOHN F CURRAN
FRANK ELLIOTT (Wireless Operator)
CHRISTOPHER FERGUSSON
HECTOR E FORD
PERCY A FOSTER
WILLIAM R GENT (First Engineer)
MAURICE A GIBLETT
NOEL GRABOSWKY-ATHERSTONE (Lieut Cdr.)
ERIC A GRAHAM (Cook)
ALFRED C HASTINGS
GEROGE W HUNT (Chief Coxswain)
HERBERT C IRWIN (Flight Lieut, RAF)
ERNEST L JOHNSTON (Sqdn Leader, RAF)
SPENCER T KEELEY
THOMAS A A KEY

WILLIAM H KING
MAURICE F LITTLEKIT
CHRISTOPHER H MASON
THOMAS W MEGGINSON (Galley Boy)
WILFRED MOULE
ARTHUR W J NORCOTT
WILLIAM H L O'NEILL (Sqdn Leader)
LEONARD F OUGHTON
WILLIAM PALSTRA (Sqdn Leader, R.A.A.F)
WALTER A POTTER
WALTER G RADCLIFFE
MARTIN G RAMPTON
ARTHUR J RICHARDSON
VINCENT C RICHMOND (Lt Colonel)
FREDERICK M ROPE (Sqdn Leader)
ERNEST G RUDD
ALBERT H SAVIDGE
GEROGE H SCOTT (Major)
G W SHORT (Charge Hand Engineer).
MAURICE H STEFF (Flying Officer)
CECIL E TAYLOR
THE RIGHT HONBLE LORD THOMSON (Air Minister)
ALBERT H WATKINS
SYDNEY ERNEST SCOTT (Charge Hand - Engineer)

The crew of the R.101 pictured sometime before the fatal flight.

The R.101, larger than any other airship in the world, was built at Cardington, near Bedford, in 1930. Seven hours into her maiden voyage to India, in increasingly threatening weather, she crashed into a hillside at Beauvais in France. Of the 54 people on board, all but eight died instantly. There is a report of the inquiry into the disaster and the tragic loss of life which exposed the pressure from the Air Minister, Lord Thomson, that, whatever the technical causes of the crash, had at the last minute unduly hurried designers, constructors and crew. The early end of the airship in modern commercial flight was the result. Photographs and drawings of the disaster are included here under the News and Reviews articles.

Documents on the R101 are held in the Public Record Office in Kew under AIR 3,5,& 11. Photographs of the wreckage are under AIR5/1070 via 6/573/1/.

A list of survivors is available on GENUKI Eng;land. More information can be found on Alan Page's R101 pages. See also Genweb Bedfordshire - Cardington.