A Mishap at Newhaven Seaplane Station
During the First World War, Newhaven became one of the major supply ports to the Western Front. Its ships transported stores and munitions across the Channel to France, travelling in convoys and escorted by destroyers for protection. When Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare at the beginning of 1917, Newhaven Seaplane Station was opened to help protect shipping.
When pilot 2nd Lt Edward Ackery arrived at the Station, he was just 18 years old and his job was to patrol the coast between Dungeness and the Isle of Wight, split into two 125 mile patrols, one East and one West of Newhaven.
On Ackery’s third patrol flight, there was an offshore wind, which meant he had to taxi out far enough to be able to turn round and head into the wind, towards the shore. His observer that day was Lt Martin Press and they were carrying one 112lb and one 50lb bomb. Ackery began his take-off run, but it was not long before he realised he was running out of sea and had not gained enough height to clear the shore. It was too late to land, so he tried to turn, but was losing height:
‘After what seemed like an age we hit the water slightly crab-wise and down-wind doing about 60 m.p.h. groundspeed … Not surprisingly the undercarriage collapsed and the machine dipped nose first and went head over heels (Ack over Tock as we used to say!).
Press was thrown out of his seat and into the sea, hitting Ackery’s head with his knee as he went. Ackery was trapped in his seat, which was now under water. He finally managed to break free and when he surfaced found Press ‘sitting calmly on one of the wings’. He had not been so calm a few moments earlier when he realised the bombs were still armed as he later recalled in a letter to Ackery ‘the bomb frames had been torn to bits and some part of the safety devise was inoperative… There was a very unpleasant moment while I detached the safety pins from my buttonhole and inserted them back in’. Press did not blame Ackery for the accident, instead he praised him, writing to him ‘you managed to make 180 degrees turn over the beach, missing the houses in Seaford and placing us over a clear stretch of water on which to crash. Your skill saved both our lives!’
This and many other stories can be found in Newhaven’s Seaplane Station by Jenny Flood, part of the Newhaven’s First World War series.
