ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 221059
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| Date: | Tuesday 13 March 1917 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Short Admiralty Type 184 floatplane |
| Owner/operator: | RNAS Westgate |
| Registration: | 9058 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Thames Estuary, 1 mile off Cliftonville, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
13.3.17: Short Admiralty Type 184 floatplane, No. 9058, RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent. Written off (destroyed) when dived into sea, one mile off Cliftonville, Kent. Both crew - Flt Sub-Lt Rowland Birks (pilot, aged 23) and Leading Mechanic Ernest Annelion Albert Rawson (Observer, Service Number F/8488, aged 32) - were killed.
Whilst flying 1 mile off of Cliftonville the seaplane was seen to plummet into the sea, motor launch ML 123 was quickly on the scene but both airmen were found to be dead. Normally the observer would have been an WT operator, but on this occasion he was an armourer.
According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Leeds Mercury", Saturday 17 March 1917):
"NAVAL AIRMAN KILLED.
WELL-KNOWN LEEDS OFFICER IN SEAPLANE ACCIDENT.
A well-known Leeds naval officer, Flight Sub-Lieut. Rowland Birks, R.N.A.S., of 81, Brudenell Road, was killed on March 13th as the result of a seaplane accident.
When the war broke out, Lieut. Birks was first officer on one of the British-Indian Steam Navigation Co.'s vessels, and commanded a patrol boat in Indian waters for some time. He subsequently applied for a commission in the R.N.A.S., and was gazetted about two years ago. He had been engaged on coastal patrol work, and had assisted to repel a number of aircraft attacks on our shores.
Lieut. Birks, who was twenty-four years of age, was educated at the Leeds Central High School."
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1917.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/365931/birks,-/
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/365966/rawson,-/
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46568046/rowland-birks
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=11878.0;wap2
6. Flight magazine (March 22, 1917 page 284): https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1917/1917%20-%200284.html?search=Rowland%20Birks
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=11879.0;wap2
8. http://www.worldwar1atsea.net/xDKCas1917-03Mar.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Jan-2019 01:55 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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