![]() Aeroplane in Flames in a Caerwent Field. NOSE DIVE "LIKE LIGHTNING" AFTER CIRCLING OVER HAYMAKERS. Monmouthshire Man Killed at the End of His First Trip in the Air.
AN AEROPLANE CRASHED IN A FIELD NEAR LLANVAIR DISCOED, IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CAERWENT, ON SATURDAY EVENING, AND MR. ARTHUR TURNER, 41, OF CRICK LODGE, CRICK, NEAR CHEPSTOW, WAS KILLED. A WELL-KNOWN MAN, MR. GODFREY JONES, OF LAWRENCE HILL, CHEPSTOW, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CALDICOT TIN STAMPING WORKS, WAS INJURED, AND IS IN A SERIOUS CONDITION AT THE ROYAL GWENT HOSPITAL.
The pilot, Mr. Douglas F. C. Brecknell, of 38, Apsley road, Clifton, Bristol, received superficial injuries.
A remarkable story is told of the crash. The 'plane wobbled twice as
the pilot, presumably losing altitude to descend, dived head on. As soon as
it hit the ground it burst into flames, which licked the fuselage and quickly
enveloped the machine.
Mr Turner died two hours after the acident. A farmer, Mr. Henry Edward Rosser of Court Farm, Llanvair Discoed, was at work with two horses mowing hay in a field but a few yards away from the spot, when the crash occurred. He told a South Wales Argus reporter a stirring story, but he carefully avoided references to his own heroism and that of others with him, in dashing to the burning plane and rescuing one of the passengers, while the pilot, who had been thrown clear, rushed round the machine, and with a total disregard for his own safety, suffering from shock, rescued his other oompanion, and afterwards collapsed. "I was working in the meadow mowing hay," said Mr. Rosser, "about 7.30 in the evening, when I noticed the aeroplane approach over the woods from the direction of Shirenewton. It came down low and circled round Five Lanes, above the field where Sir Alan Cobham and his men gave a demonstration, and as it seemed to be too high, it made another circle to lessen its height." "Then it seemed to come straight for me. It seemed to me it was going to crash into my horses. Then it wobbled twice and dived, wlth its nose down and its tail up in the air. It hit the ground and immediately burst into flames."At once Mr. Rosser left his mowing and dashed through the field, across the parish road and over a hedge. He was alongside the aeroplane in a moment, and was joined by Mr. Herbert Jones, of Sharby Cottage, Llanmelin, and Mr. Reginald White, of Cwm, both of whom had been at work in nearby fields. "The pilot was out of the machine, trying to get one ot the other men out," continued Mr. Rosser, "and we pulled out the other." "It was all over in a second or two after I saw the machine wobble."
The field where the aeroplane crashed is on the farm of Mr. Rosser, and is alongside the road which leads from the main Newport to Chepstow road to Llanvair Discoed, but a short distance from the field at Five Lanes where Sir Alan Cobham and his airmen gave a display.
"Then it turned over on its side, and the next second it turned upside down and nosedived to the ground.A similar impression was given to the reporter by Mr. Jack Holloway, also of Llanvaches, who was at work in the same field with Griffiths. He added that at the time a charabanc party passed by on the main road. They saw the crash and rushed to the field.
It is believed that a member of the party stopped a motor ambulance that was on its way to be delivered to a South Wales authority. In this ambulance - a new one just out from the works of the makers - the two more seriously injured men were taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital. The pilot recovered somewhat, and walked to a car, in which he was taken to hospital.
"I looked up and saw that the pilot had shut off his engine when over Llanvair village and was circling to come down. It seemed to me that he would make a good and safe landing; but suddenly I saw the machine turn on its side and dive to the earth as quick as lightning.The pilot told Mr. Marsh that he had unstrapped Mr. Jones and Mr. Turner and had pulled them out just before the machine burst into flames, In the ambulance, Mr. Turner made rambling statements during periods of consciousness. He cried out, "Can't we land?" He was terribly injured. Several motorists who were driving along the main road saw the flames and smoke and drove to the spot. One of them was Mr. B. A. Paul, ot 21, Blenheim road, Newport, who arrived soon after the crash. Another was Mr. Eric Duckham, of 24, Allt-yr-Yn-road, Newport. He summoned the Newport ambulance and gave what assistance he could in removing the injured. Dr. Vivian Jones, a house surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital, was another who happened to be passing, and he picked up Police Constable W. Palmer from Penhow, and hurried to the scene. When they arrived the injured men had been taken to hospital.
It was Mr. Arthur Turner's first flight, and it seems that he had a forboding of ill.
Whether the fact that the flight, which was made for the purpose of making business calls, began on Wednesday the thirteenth had anything to do with the matter is not known; but it is known that he would have preferred to make the journey by other means.
The day before the outward Journey, the flight was discussed in the office of Caldicot Tin Stamping Works, and one of the clerks jokingly said of Mr. Turner, "I expect it will be the last we shall see of him."Overnight Mr. Turner was nervous about the journey he was to undertake, and it was obvious that his first flight made no appeal to him.
Mr. Turner had been engaged with the firm for over thirty years, and had risen to the
position of foreman printer. He was a married man, but had no family. Mr. Jones is an enthusiast tor air travel and has flown many times at home and on the continent. During the trip which ended so tragically he made many notes, and one of them refers to having made a landing at Blackpool to obtain petrol, while in another was the comment, "Is this their idea of a mild day?"The aeroplane was completely burned, and among the wreckage were the printed sides of tins, evidently samples of the work done at Caldicot, which Mr. Jones and Mr. Turner had taken with them. One wheel, except for a cut tyre, was intact. The machine was still smouldering two hours after the accident. A number of police officers, under Inspectors J. Read, Newport, and Basson, Chepstow, with Sergeant C. Lockyear, Chepstow, had formed a cordon around it, and prevented crowds of villagers and others from entering the field. Mr. Jones is a brother of Mr. Wilfred Jones, who was last year Captain of Pontypool Harlequins. His father, Mr. W. D. Jones, is Manager of Avondale Tinplate Works, Pontnewydd.
Evidence of identification only was given when Newport and District Coroner (Mr. E. Charles Jones) opened the inquest on Arthur Turner.
It is learned that Mr. Godfrey Jones has a fractured pelvis and fractured leg, and that he is recovering. |
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