James Fitzmaurice
He was a member of the crew of the Bremen, which made the first successful trans-Atlantic aircraft flight from East to West on 12–13 April 1928.He was then posted to another English unit, the 7th Battalion of the Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment of Foot as an acting sergeant.He was sent for training to Cadet College and graduated to the 8th (Irish) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) as a Second Lieutenant on 28 November 1917.He completed his training as a fighter pilot and was posted to sail to France on 11 November 1918, the day that the Armistice with Germany became effective.Fitzmaurice made his first attempt to fly the Atlantic in 1927,[7] when in the Princess Xenia (aircraft)[8] (a Fokker F.VIIa aircraft) piloted by Captain Robert Henry McIntosh,[7] who got financial backing from an American millionaire William Bateman Leeds and his co-financier Captain Anthony (Wilfred Heyman) Joynson-Wreford.[citation needed] Having received the meteorological forecast indicating, that even though the first 200 miles off the Irish coast were poor, the rest of the route to America was clear, so they decided to proceed with the attempt.A large crowd watched their take off from Baldonnel at 1:30 p.m., however, the weather off the coast of Galway was turbulent and got worse until visibility was virtually nil.The crew consisted of: Köhl made a "perfect three-point landing" on a shallow, ice-covered, water reservoir (which James called a "lagoon") for the lighthouse at Greenly Island, Canada.[14] In recognition of their trans-Atlantic flight achievement, Fitzmaurice and his two companions were bestowed the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 30 June 1928.There are streets named for Fitzmaurice in four German cities: Bremen (at the airport), Cologne, Ulm and Pfaffenhofen an der Roth.The Fitzmaurice Flying School was opened in Baldonnel in February 1996 and in April the restaurant in the Kingswood County House Hotel was named after the aviator.
James FitzmorrisDublinBritainIrelandBritish ArmyRoyal Air ForceIrish Air Corps17th LancersLiverpool IrishNo. 25 Squadron RAFBattle of the Somme (1916)BremenPortlaoiseChristian BrothersNational VolunteersFrancecommissionQueen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment of Foot55th (West Lancashire) DivisionBattle of the Somme8th (Irish) BattalionKing's (Liverpool Regiment)School of Military AeronauticsReadingEastbourneMarske-by-the-SeaMiddlesbroughArmistice with Germany110 SquadronFolkestoneBoulogneNorth British and Mercantile Insurance Company25 Squadronaccent used by English officersIrish National ArmyIrish Free StateBaldonnelPrincess Xenia (aircraft)Fokker F.VIIaRobert Henry McIntoshmeteorological forecastGalwayBallybunionCounty Kerryco-pilotBremen (aircraft)Hermann KöhlEhrenfried Günther Freiherr von HünefeldGreenly Island, Canada70th United States CongressCalvin CoolidgeUnited States Distinguished Flying CrossFreedom of the City of DublinHitlerReichstagChancellorReichstag fireNew YorkWorld War IILondonLufthansaShannonColognePfaffenhofen an der RothWagga WaggaAn PostDublin County Councillink roadSaggartRathcooleList of people on the postage stamps of IrelandMet ÉireannLeinster ExpressIrish IndependentFlightBritish PathéDublin City Council20th Century Press Archives