LOOKING BACK WITH DR JONATHAN OATES
An intact Caudron G2
he was in flight he heard a loud bang
and later the mechanics found rivets
and powder in the cylinders. A similar
incident occurred two days later. The
mechanic said that these items could not
have been put there accidentally.
CRASHES
It was certainly dangerous. He was
involved in two crashes in 1913. In
January of that year he had taken a
Bleriot pattern monoplane from the
aerodrome at Hendon and crashed,
falling 40 feet to the ground. Although
the plane was damaged he was not and
when people rushed to the site, they
found him calmly smoking among the
wreckage. He was flying again in a few
days’ time.
On the other instance, in December,
he was flying from Hendon to Uxbridge
above the Brent Valley, but was forced
to land at Harefield. The plane became
wedged between two trees in a farm.
He was unharmed and the machine
undamaged, but it took three hours for
it to be removed from the trees.
It also seems he had enemies. In
late 1913 he received two anonymous
letters, one reading, ‘An attempt will
be made to prevent you flying on the
Thursday’. He ignored it, but when
TRAGIC ACCIDENT
However, on Sunday 25 January 1914,
after having been unwell for the last
fortnight, he was determined to fly
again. His father advised him against it,
but he told him, ‘Father, you can trust
me’. However, when he was performing
an exhibition flight at the aerodrome,
where he rose 800 feet, ascending and
descending at very steep angles, a gust
of wind caught the plane’s tail and the
machine toppled over. Unable to bring
the plane to a horizontal in order to
land, he fell to the ground. Temple was
found underneath the plane with his
neck broken. The inquest suggested that
Temple had still been ill at the time of
the crash.
The funeral at Acton Cemetery six
days later was very well attended and
one of the floral tributes was in the shape
of a monoplane. An ornate memorial
was erected in December 1914.
MORE…
Paul Lang will be giving a talk at Ealing’s
aeronautical history at Ealing Central
Library on 12 November at 6.15pm.
His grave. The caption at the foot of it reads:
‘Now gallant boy pursue thy happy flight/
with swifter motion haste to purer right’.
MAGNA CARTA
An exhibition is touring the
borough’s libraries, featuring
artwork marking the 800th
anniversary of the world-famous
1215 legal charter signed by King
John, the Magna Carta.
Click here for the full story
around ealing
Autumn 2015
57