ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 218612
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| Date: | Tuesday 10 August 1915 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Sopwith Tabloid |
| Owner/operator: | 2 Wg RNAS Westgate |
| Registration: | 1212 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent |
| RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
10.8.15: Sopwith Tabloid 1212, 2 Wing, RNAS, Westgate. Written off (damaged beyond repair) when overturned on night landing at RNAS Westgate, St Mildreds Bay, Westgate on Sea, Kent, during Zeppelin raid on East coast of England. Pilot - Flt Sub-Lt Reginald Lord (aged 23) - was killed (died of injuries sustained)
Zeppelin L12 with Oberleutnant-zur-See Werner Peterson in command was blown way off course and approached Dover at a low height of about 3,500 feet. Immediately illuminated by searchlights, two 6 pounders, a 3 inch gun and five 1 pounder pom-poms opened fire. It appears a shell from the 3pdr struck home. The Zeppelin immediately climbed to escape dropping 10 bombs. Six landed in the sea while two incendiaries struck the parapet of Admiralty Pier and burnt themselves out, while a third fell through the roof of the Transport Office and set fire to the platform but was quickly extinguished. A final bomb fell under the bows of the trawler Equinox, wounding three men. The airship limped back to Ostend, but crashed in the sea a few miles out. Torpedo boats towed her into harbour she burst into flames and was destroyed while being hauled out onto the dock.
A Home Defence aircraft, Sopwith Tabloid No. 1212, flown by Flight Sub-Lieutenant R. Lord, took off to look for the airship, but failed to find it in the fog. Unfortunately he crashed on landing and died from his injuries. According to published sources (see link #4):
"When L.12 appeared at Westgate on Sea, a Sopwith Tabloid piloted by 23-year-old Reginald Lord took off from the RNAS Station, but he never saw the raider. With flares burning on the airfield for his return, Lord inexplicably hit the ground 50 yards short of the first flare. His aircraft somersaulted twice, leaving it a total wreck. Willing hands dragged him clear of the wreckage, but he suffered serious head and leg injuries. He died in hospital the early hours of the following morning".
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/365958/lord,-reginald/
3. https://airwar19141918.wordpress.com/tag/rnas/
4. https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/204001-sub-lt-reginald-lord-rnas-d-100815/
5. Flight (13 August 1915, pages 588 and 589): https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1915/1915%20-%200589.html
6. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showpost.php?p=554783&postcount=2
7. Zeppelin Onslaught: The Forgotten Blitz 1914–1915 page 168 By Ian Castle
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Nov-2018 00:16 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 27-Nov-2018 00:20 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Jan-2019 08:09 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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