This is a more personal area for collections of photos, holiday diaries and poetry written during the war by my father

Alcock & Brown's Telegram & Wing Piece

 

This is how we came to have a piece of Alcocks and Brown's aircraft and the original telegram they wrote on arriving in Ireland after the transatlantic flight

My mother's note

At the time Alcock and Brown landed in the Irish marsh my father was on duty at the local Marconi wireless station , Clifden, where transatlantic messages were forwarded to London and on.( Communications were very primitive at this time, wireless telegraphy was in its infancy ) On seeing and hearing the plane land - with one wing crushed, all men on duty rushed out of course to the adjoining field to greet them.. Alcock asked whether there was any means of letting London know they had arrived safely so my father showed thim into the wireless station where Alcock wrote out the message which was to be sent by morse to London. Dad did this and kept the original message written in indelible pencil, which I have. Photos were taken of the staff with A and B; the wing being broken, Dad and perhaps others too picked up a piece of the material used to cover the struts. Later the plane was removed and the two men went off I presume by the local taxi. I have several photos and my friend whose father was on duty at the time also has some others.
Now of course you can see the complete plane on the top floor of the Science Museum !!.

Wing

 

Alcock & Brown

Grampa is on the right in the background

Grampa on the right at the back  in the door