ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220191
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| Date: | Saturday 2 September 1916 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | FBA Type A Flying Boat |
| Owner/operator: | RNAS Windermere |
| Registration: | 3648 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RNAS Windermere, Hill of Oaks, Windermere, Cumberland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RNAS Windermere, Cumberland |
| RNAS Windermere, Cumberland | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
2.9.16: F.B.A. Type A Flying Boat No.3648, RNAS Windermere. Written off (destroyed) when Crashed on landing, Windermere, Cumberland. Of the two crew, one - Flt Lt Harold Alexander Bower (aged 23) was killed (drowned) and the other - Flt Sub-Lt Ernest Guy Forsyth Thompson - was injured. According to a September 2, 2016 article in the NWE Mail (see link #3):
"Pioneer Lakeland flying had its dangers
A century ago the waters of Windermere claimed the life of 23-year-old pilot Harold Alexander Bower in a flying accident to one of a new breed of aeroplane wanted by the naval authorities as spotters for the battle fleets.
Flt-Lt Bower was born in Rotherhithe, London, on July 11 in 1893. He was the son of Alexander F. Bower and Emily Alice Bower of 14 Berwyn Road, Herne Hill
Bower was taken on as a probationary flight sub-lieutenant on May 12, 1915 and trained as a naval pilot in small flying boats. His aviator certificate was gained from the Royal Aero club on January 18, 1916 when he was flying a Maurice Farman Biplane at Chingford’s Royal Naval Air Service station.
He was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant on June 30 in 1916 and transferred to the Lake District, where the Royal Naval Air Service had established a flying boat Station at Hill of Oaks on the east shore of the lake.
At 6.10pm on September 2 in 1916 Bower took off in a small two-seater FBA Type A flying boat with Flight Sub-Lt Ernest Guy Forsyth Thompson as a pupil. When they approached the base the craft suddenly broke up in the air and fell into the lake.
Thompson suffered minor injuries, but there was no trace of Bower. His body was recovered five days later and an inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. The body was taken to Windermere railway station from where it was sent for burial at Norwood, near to where his parents lived.
The family purchased a private grave and marked it with a Calvary Cross inscribed to “Our darling son – Killed in a seaplane accident – Nearer my God to Thee”. This memorial was replaced with a standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone around 1990. He left £311 in his will."
It is worthy of note that the records on Flt Lt Harold Alexander Bower that were held in the National Archives at Kew (see links 4,5 & 6) were marked as "to be kept closed for 75 years" (instead of the usual 30 years); they have only been available to researchers since January 1 1993
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/385266/bower,-/
3. https://www.nwemail.co.uk/features/nostalgia/16452849.pioneer-lakeland-flying-had-its-dangers/
4. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9754684
5. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9748357
6. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8194256
7. https://ietarchivesww1.wordpress.com/2016/09/27/74th-iee-member-to-fall-in-world-war-1-flight-lieutenant-h-a-bower/
8. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/lakes/3648.html
9. http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1916-09Sep.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Dec-2018 19:32 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 26-Dec-2018 19:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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