The Storyboard for Unveiling in 2009

After 6 months, a major project undertaken by a Task Force

of PFBC Trustees and HLMs is finally nearing completion.

This is a Storyboard outlining the history of the Flying Boats

+ Seaplanes when at Poole Harbour over the period 1939-59

produced by the popular, local graphic artist Maria Burns...

The Storyboard was commissioned with significant support

from the Borough of Poole’s Leisure Service and a Sponsor.

Therefore, such costs will be offset by BoP and our Sponsor.

The layout was devised as to replace PFBC’s Harbour Map

originally compiled by Aimée and digitised by Graham New

- with a more up-dated version based upon the busiest years !

For example the number of runways varied from year to year. Whilst the map is a snapshot, the information covers a wider

framework of years to encompass a cross-section of material.

Each of 3 boards measures over a metre in length, with the

design etched onto a protected plate in resistant coloured inks.

These will be placed at strategic points along the Harbourside

with one having a higher elevation at Whitecliff promontory.

A matching fourth board will be held as a reserve for use by

both PFBC and the Borough of Poole for meetings /displays.

www.pooleflyingboats.com

Another Task Force is dealing with preparations underway for the construction of a new PFBC website as replacement

for the old one designed by Graham which has served us well.

Andrew Borrill is heading up this project; please contact him

info@pooleflyingboats.com More news in the next Newsletter...

“Out of the Mists of Time came the ’planes that floated !”

Various Trials &

Elimination Races

brought the teams

and the Seaplanes

to Great Britain

and Bournemouth

for the Schneider

Trophy contest

held on 10th. Sept

1919 from beyond

its famous pier !

The triangular course took in 10 laps each of 20 nautical miles

across Poole Bay to the marker for the first turn off Swanage,

over to Hengistbury Head - and back to Bournemouth’s Pier !

Seven teams of 3 British, 3 French and one Italian Seaplane

with one reserve (also British) assembled for this Great Day.

Huge crowds gathered on the cliff tops, beaches and the pier

to witness a greatly delayed start with mounting excitement,

and tension for the contestants waiting for a sea fog to clear.

It failed to lift and a drama was to unfold which gripped All !

The Italian Team stayed at Poole’s Harbour Heights and its Seaplane Savoia was based in the Harbour to become our oldest photograph record .

(That is so far !!!)

Poole Flying Boats Celebration No 1123274

THE PFBC TRUSTEES…. Who Welcome You All Commodore: Ken Sanson (also Chair of the Trustees) V Commodore: Harry Alexander R Commodores: Adrian Borrill Bertie Bowman Flag Officer: Aimée Alexander (our PFBC Archivist) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also invited to Trustees’ Meetings are:

Hon. President: Jack Harris Vice President: Leslie Dawson Hon.Life Member: Ian Andrews (Represents our HLMs) and for each Meeting - Representatives from our PFBC Task Forces

Also present until recently was John Newton (now a PFBC HLM): John is congratulated for all his ongoing and invaluable support !

PFBC Ever Onwards and Upwards

Newly recruited to our impressive ranks of Honorary Life Members

are four more welcome additions with significant support for PFBC:

John Batchelor is a world-famous illustrator of books, posters and

postage stamps whose beautiful illustrations are absolutely stunning.

With a background in the RAF, then Aircraft Design with Saro etc.,

it is hardly surprising that aircraft feature prominently in his work !

Just marvel at The Illustrated History of Seaplanes and Flying Boats (co-author with Louis S Casey: ISBN 0 600 38259 1, Hamlyn Edition 1980).

Harry H. Pusey was the BOAC Station Operations Officer at Poole

1940-43, before moving to Lisbon. Next returning as Duty Officer

at Poole during 1948, then across to Hurn as Senior Station Officer.

His extensive knowledge & memories of the Flying Boat operations

are invaluable to PFBC and to the content /accuracy of our Archive,

where his attention to detail has cleared up various short-comings !

Colin Pomeroy (- Squadron Leader rtd.) is the popular local author who has a very wide range of interests, with diverse subject matter

which reaches from his home turf far across the Atlantic to Bermuda

in covering Dorset’s hill forts & castles, thro’ to Bermuda transport !

Much sought-after is Colin’s excellent The Flying Boats of Bermuda (ISBN 0 9698332 4 5 published in 2000), which is highly recommended.

David Rose started with Imperial Airways Marine Section at Poole.

Read much about David in Tales from the Golden Age of Air Travel (by Tom Quinn: ISBN 1 85410 937 5, published Aurum Press Ltd. in 2003)

where in this beautifully presented book, a chapter is dedicated to

his various posts from work on the rigger’s launch, on to Coxswain,

and after call up to the RN, he later rejoined BOAC to work abroad

eventually i/c of the marine section at a new station on Lake Nyasa ! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Over the Winter period, several of our HLMs & Friends have been unwell, so we send to them & their families best wishes from PFBC .

Those participating in this Task Force at various times included: from the PFBC Trustees ~ Ken, Harry, Adrian, Peter and Aimée together with HLMs ~ Douglas Cook and Ian Andrews... and with thanks expressed to our Leslie Dawson and Bryan Ribbans, also John Marter BoP Area Ranger, Maria Burns, and Karen Rhys.

Soon

to be

Open

but No

peeking

just yet !

Draft No.11 so far !

PFBC Task Forces… with a Significant Role in 2009

PFBC is significantly committed to the use of Task Forces:

With such a concept attributed to John Newton’s foresight,

Ian Andrews specified this name to meet our requirements…

Membership of a Task Force is open to all in PFBC provided

that you have the inclination, skill/energy & time to offer your

services when a ‘TF’ is set up to undertake a specific task in a given timeframe, to achieve the objective, and report back.

All participants in ‘TFs’ will be required to sign a ‘Volunteer Agreement’, together with a form relating to ‘Confidentiality’. Task Force News will be forwarded to you and appear in Newsletters.

→→→→→

Celebrity Unveiling

and Honoured Guests

British Favourite: Sea Lion

For more of this epic & gripping story see our next Newsletter

- when you can reserve a copy of our Special Limited Edition

booklet about this event which will be on sale this Summer to

raise funds for PFBC - which of course will be put to good use.

No. 5

Poole Flying Boats

Celebration

&

the Borough of Poole

Halcyon Days at Lake for 2009

With our mission focussed to provide a public-access Archive

PFBC is delighted to have been invited for a history weekend,

at the Lake Club in Hamworthy for the 28th. Feb /1st. March.

Eagerly anticipated is a new book by author Leslie Dawson,

Hon.Vice President of PFBC, on The Flying Boats at Poole, which promises to be the definitive work on this epic history !

Previously, Wings over Dorset: Aviation’s story in the South Leslie’s earlier book, was the first to provide a comprehensive

account of the Flying Boats at Poole 1939-50, alongside the

full chapters on the Schneider Trophy - Bournemouth 1919,

Sir Alan Cobham & Flight Refuelling; and historic snippets

of Farman’s waterplane, also a visit by Samuel Franklin Cody.

Published in 1983, it was revised and

extended as ISBN 0 948699 10 8 in 1989.

The book proved to be very popular;

out-of-print it is most highly-prized,

so that today copies are snapped up !

A good tip is to acquire one of these,

as it is not only a good investment ~

but will provide a fascinating read as

the companion to Leslie’s new OPUS. Further details of the new book will be in our Newsletter (when available).

As a prelude to publication, Leslie has been giving his series

of Presentations: The first was to the Poole Maritime Trust

where members enjoyed a delightful evening at the RMYC.

This was followed by an Afternoon to a sold-out gathering

at the Allendale Centre for the East Dorset Heritage Forum.

The next one will be for Members of Parkstone Yacht Club

- where these details are yet to be fully confirmed for March.

In these Presentations Leslie has already revealed a range of

previously unpublished photographs and further information,

also with eye-witness accounts for that personal perspective !

Poole Flying Boats Celebration Charity No. 1123274

Trustee Newsletter: Spring 2009

PFBC is now Ready

for Take-Off in 2009

Welcome to our Newsletter ~ for Members, Friends & Supporters www.pooleflyingboats.com (THE ' OPUS in colour)

Out of the Mists of Time and into our focus of ‘Celebration’

come ‘the boats that flew and planes which floated on water’, so that 2009 is a most significant year in which to celebrate

anniversaries of historic events for Poole and Bournemouth.

Those racing aircraft of today that fly in the Red Bull Series in spectacular circuits in 17 countries so far around the globe,

owe much to the iconic contests from the early days of flight.

The competition essentially arose from the challenges to fly,

which then extended to promoting one aircraft over another,

until this spectacle became a major source for national pride.

By 1919, with the respite from the horrors of the Great War,

many thousands of spectators were to line cliff tops, beaches

and the pier at Bournemouth to watch the Seaplane Contest.

Seven seaplanes from Britain, France & Italy took part in the

dramatic race for the Schneider Trophy, held in this country

as the British Sopwith had taken prewar honours in Monaco !

So when the Bournemouth Air Show captivated the crowds

last August as an exciting inaugural event, and we marvelled

at a Catalina (as advocated by PFBC) the last UK Flying Boat capable of flight, there were echoes of the Schneider Days ! Competition was also a key factor in the quest for supremacy

in Transatlantic Crossings involving the Big Five of Britain, the USA, France, Italy and Germany in the run-up to WW2.

From schooner to liner, and then to the era of the Flying Boats

different routes and innovations were variously prospected... When dark clouds of war gathered again, the Empire C-Class

of Imperial Airways was moved to Poole, and for a fleeting

time its longer distance FBs completed the series which had

been designed to ‘friendly’ rival the ‘B’ Clippers of PanAm ! For News about The Celebrations of PFBC please read on...

THE

' OPUS

©

** Also we will use Gift Aid to maximise assistance to PFBC **

Join Friends of PFBC: There is a modest fee of £5 p.a. to become a PFBC Founder Friend.

~ Membership entitles you to attend meetings; PFBC Friends Groups, to receive Newsletters, and to have the earliest opportunity for tickets to enjoy Celebrations !

~ s.a.e. to Ken Sanson 113 Banks Road, Poole BH13 7QQ for a form, or ksanson@onetel.net

CANOPUS

New Year’s Presentation by Leslie Dawson

at the appropriately well-decorated RMYC

- to Members of the Poole Maritime Trust

with a good sprinkling of PFBC supporters

RMYC ready for action

Left to Face the Setting Sun at Lake - Poole

BOAC Solent-Class FB at Former RAF Hamworthy

Lake Club is a very

popular venue for its

Membership, which

also includes those

DLSOCA Members

who belong to the

Association for the

former employees

of Lake Shipyard…

aka Dorset Lake Shipyard

The Famous Empire C-Class Flying Boats finished their service with BOAC at Poole

Our PFBC HLM Bob Kent liaises between the organisations.

A PFBC Task Force will be arranging a static display there,

which will be manned by our volunteers over the weekend…

Lake Shipyard & the locality of Lake with its ATURM base

are important to the history of Flying Boats at Poole Harbour:

In 1942, lands belonging to Lake Shipyard provided the site

for RAF Hamworthy & the Flying Boats of Coastal Command.

Firstly, there were the Sunderlands of RAAF 461 Squadron, which were followed by 210 Squadron with its 12 Catalinas.

After WW2 the site became a Maintenance Base for BOAC.

Various homes nearby once requisitioned were handed back.

Then with the

arrival of the

Royal Marines

it became a

BOAC Storage

Facility for

Flying Boats

when taken

out of service.

(see photo above) Corsair at Poole for the final time in January 1947

Lake’s Hardstanding with a capacity of up to 11 Flying Boats,

meant that others were left on the Moorings (or drawn-up on

to the foreshore at Lower Hamworthy). It was a very forlorn

sight to watch these dismantled, until in 1959 none were left. (*The last Flying Boat at Lake was Sandringham Class G-AHZA Penzance)

This has been just a brief snippet of the history involved here, for it is planned that this PFBC display will tour Hamworthy, and then reach out to other Communities & Schools in Poole.

Aimée PFBC Flag Officer ~ Founding Trustee & Archivist Á