ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 199144
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| Date: | Monday 22 March 1937 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60G III Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Mary du Caurroy, Her Grace, The Duchess of Bedford |
| Registration: | G-ACUR |
| MSN: | 5097 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Sea, off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire |
C/no. 5097: DH 60GIII Moth Major registered G-ACUR [C of R 5157] 16.7.34 to Sydney P Jackson, Coventry [and built with extra tanks etc for entry in MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race, but entry withdrawn]. C of A 4487 issued 6.9.34.
To Brian Lewis & Co Ltd, Heston 11.9.34 for disposal; to Elstree with effect from May 1935. Sold by Brian Lewis September 1935 (in part exchange for G-ABXR) and registered [C of R 7283] 19.8.36 to Mary du Caurroy, Her Grace, The Duchess of Bedford, Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire; named "Curlew".
Written off (destroyed) when lost (presumed crashed into the North Sea) off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 22.3.37; the pilot - Mary de Caurroy, Her Grace, the Duchess of Bedford - was killed. She was aged 71 at the time of her disappearance, had accumulated 199 flying hours (and four minutes!), and had been nicknamed by the press "The Flying Duchess"
She had to achieve another 56 minutes of flying time to reach her 200 hours. She wanted to do that because she was worried that the Air Ministry would not renew her pilot's licence because of her deafness (caused by tinnitus) and because of her age (she was, by then, 71).
Parts of the airframe were washed ashore 2.4.37: the four interplane struts between the wings were washed up at four different places on the East Coast, and were identified by her ground engineer. The airplane’s struts were washed up at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston, Lowestoft and Southwold. Her body was never recovered.
According to a biography of the pilot (see links #8 & #10):
"Flying came late into the Duchess’ life but at an important juncture. Her deafness had grown constantly worse and she began to realise that one day she would be cut off from much of her usefulness in hospital work. Thus, at the age of 60, she took her first flight from Croydon to Woburn on June 17, 1926.
It was just two years later when Mary embarked on the first of her historic flights to India in the Princess Xenia (a Fokker monoplane), wholly realising the opportunities that flying offered her.
On Monday March 22, 1937, with almost 200 hours of solo flying time logged, the 71-year-old Duchess of Bedford took off from the park at Woburn Abbey. When she hadn't returned after an hour and a half the Duke became very concerned and contacted the chief of Bedfordshire police who put out calls to neighbouring constabularies. But nothing was seen of her nor the plane.
It is thought that she might have flown out over the sea by mistake and ran out of fuel. What is known for sure is that she and her De Havilland Gipsy Moth disappeared together into the North Sea. The airplane’s struts were washed up at Yarmouth, Gorleston, Lowestoft and Southwold. Her body was never recovered.
Mary, Duchess of Bedford’s legacy can be experienced through her many photographs and personal effects displayed at Woburn Abbey"
She left a husband and a son, Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford (1888–1953), who became the 12th Duke of Bedford after his father (Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford) died on 27.8.1940. Registration G-ACUR formally cancelled 31.12.37.
Sources:
1. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ACUR.pdf
2. https://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-moth-major-iii-north-sea-1-killed
3. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Russell,_Duchess_of_Bedford#Death
5. Biography of pilot: http://lafayette.org.uk/bed1693e.html#:~:text=At%20the%20age%20of%2060%2C%20the%20Duchess%20took,North%20Sea%20and%20her%20body%20was%20never%20found.
6. https://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Duchess-of-Bedford-DBE/6000000002188461228
7. http://www.bedfordshire-lha.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HIB-7-4.pdf
8. https://www.london.ac.uk/news-and-opinion/leading-women/flying-duchess-bedford
9. https://dbpedia.org/page/Mary_Russell,_Duchess_of_Bedford
10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2008/08/12/flying_duchess_feature.shtml
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Yarmouth
Location
Media:
Mary du Caurroy, Duchess of Bedford (1865-1937), published in The Ladies' Field, 21 May 1898, p 431 Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-Aug-2017 11:26 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-Jun-2023 09:36 | Nepa | Updated |
| 17-Oct-2023 05:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated |
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