IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Basingstoke, Hampshire UK
19th October 2006
WW2 Dive Bomber crew reunited at Fleet Air Arm Museum
Friday Oct 27th will see eight WW2 crew from Blackburn Skua dive bombers reunited at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
The Blackburn Skua was the first British built dive bomber and the first aircraft to shoot down an enemy aircraft in WW2 (a Dornier flying boat on 25th Sept 1939)
The reunion will see two pilots Derek Martin and ‘Jock’ Moffit along with two Telegraphist Air Gunners, two armourers from the HMS ARK ROYAL 111 and an ARK ROYAL 111 writer. In addition, Richard Blackburn Skua pilot and son of Dr Robert Blackburn the founder of the Blackburn Aviation Co, will be present.
The day promises to be a day to remember as the WW2 veterans reminisce and recount stories including how it was that Derek Martin was shot down in his Skua in 1940 and taken to Stalagluft 3, of Great Escape fame.
Among the Telegraphist Air Gunners will be Lloyd Richards who will present an address from a Canadian Skua pilot Mr Bartlett along with a photograph of him being taken as a POW.
In addition to the WW2 veterans a team from Bodo Aviation Museum in Norway will be present. The team are currently restoring a Skua and will bring a restored cockpit to add to the impact of the day. The Cockpit will remain on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for the remainder of the weekend 28 & 29 Oct.
The Fleet Air Arm Museum have an imaginative display of a Skua dive bomber as it was found under the ice in a Norwegian lake having been shot down in 1940 by a German Hinkle aircraft.
For full details, visit the Museum website at http://www.fleetairarm.com
ENDS
Note to Editors:
The Blackburn Skua can claim several significant firsts to its name. It was the Fleet Air Arm’s first stressed skin mono-plane aircraft and also the first British aircraft specifically designed for dive-bombing duties.
Blackburn Skuas entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in November 1938, as a successful update and replacement for the Hawker Osprey and Nimrod biplane fighter aircraft, in service at the time.
Shooting down the first enemy aircraft of World War II would be a notable achievement for any record, and this too can be claimed by a Blackburn Skua. On 25th September 1939, Lt. Cdr. B.S. McEwan RN (803 Naval Air Squadron) operating from H.M.S Ark Royal, shot down a German Dornier Do18 flying boat whilst on air patrol off the Norwegian coast.
Blackburn Skuas were at the forefront of the Norwegian campaign, often operating at the extreme limit of their range and under grueling North Sea conditions. Despite these limiting factors, Skuas of No. 800 and 803 NAS, managed to successfully dive bomb and sink the German cruiser Konigsberg, in Bergen Fjord, Norway, on the 10th April 1940.
No fewer than 4 front line and 22 second line and training Fleet Air Arm squadrons operated Blackburn Skuas between 1938 and 1941.
The UK’s Fleet Air Arm Museum is located at Ilchester, Somerset adjoining the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton.
It’s mission is “To collect, preserve, interpret and make accessible, material relevant to all aspects of the history of naval aviation and the operations of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Fleet Air Arm, the aircraft they have flown, the people who have served with them, and the ships and stations where they served, in the context of the development of aviation at large."
For more information about the Museum and this event please contact:
Jon Jefferies, Head of Marketing
Fleet Air Arm Museum
Tel: +44 1935 842638 (International)
or 01935 842638 (UK)
http://www.fleetairarm.com/
Photo of Skua Dive Bomber available – please e-mail John Hicks for jpeg – see below.
Media enquiries to:
John Hicks M.IDM
Headline Promotions, Press & PR
Mobile: 07771 575 654
Fax: 0707 520 9717
john@headlinepromotions.co.uk
www.headlinepromotions.blogspot.com
