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Death of a Princess : The Destruction of HMS Princess Irene 27 May 1915
/world-war-i-articles/death-of-a-princess-the-destruction-of-hms-princess-irene-27-may-1915/
In May 1913 the Canadian Pacific Railway had placed an order with Denny’s of Dumbarton for two new ships for their route on the Pacific coast between Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle. The ships were elegant and well appointed three-funnelled vessels 350 feet long with a 54 foot beam and displacing 5,500 tons. Oil-fuelled boilers drove two propellers…
Hang on a Minute! Near escapes by RFC/RAF Pilots during the First World War
/world-war-i-articles/hang-on-a-minute-near-escapes-by-rfcraf-pilots-during-the-first-world-war/
During the Great War pilots and observers of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and Royal Air Force(RAF) were not provided with parachutes, unless they were crewing observation balloons where the bulky parachutes of the day could be attached to the outside of the basket. Consequently, many lives were lost as crewmembers of…
Lanoe Hawker, VC: Pilot, Innovator and Inventor
/world-war-i-articles/lanoe-hawker-vc-pilot-innovator-and-inventor/
Lanoe Hawker was born on 31 December 1890 in Longparish, Hampshire, and soon showed himself to be an intelligent boy. At the age of ten he went to Geneva with his younger brother for schooling; with Lanoe returning to England two years later. In 1905 he decided to join the Royal Navy and successfully entered the Britannia Naval College at Dartmou…
Five into four does go
/world-war-i-articles/five-into-four-does-go/
For his book, The Kaiser’s Battle, Martin Middlebrook did some analysis of the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) casualties on 21 March 1918, the opening day of the German Offensive. He estimated that about 21,000 men were reported missing that day, with more suffering a similar fate over the coming days as the offensive continued. Some downward …