v THE NEXT HERALD IS OUT ON 3RD AUGUST v Page 68 • The HERALD • 13th July 2023 Holbury Service Station Web: www.holburyservicestation.com Email: holburyservicestation@hotmail.co.uk Member of Good Garage Scheme.com TYRES FITTED WHILE-U-WAIT Budget and Branded tyres held in stock Long Lane, Holbury, SO45 2NZ Tel: 023 8089 3727 All Major Cards Accepted and Repairs to Cars & Vans MOT’S & SERVICING BLACKFIELD GARAGE SERVICES LTD Tel: (023) 8089 3146 MOT’s AND SERVICING, ACCIDENT REPAIRS, INSURANCE AND PRIVATE WORK FREE ESTIMATES EXHAUSTS AND BATTERIES ETC All makes and models of vehicle Courtesy cars available Members of the Retail Motor Industry Federation Blackfield Crossroads, Blackfield Tales from the Graveyard of All Saints’ Church, Fawley by Patricia Hedley Goddard Flying Officer Peacock On Tuesday 17th October 1933 the Portsmouth Evening News announced the sad news that there had been a fatal RAF Flying Boat crash in Southampton Water, near to RAF Calshot. e aircra was a Supermarine Southampton Mk. II Flying Boat, registration S1121 and had been constructed at the Supermarine Works at Woolston, Southampton. is particular aircra was the last of its type to be built with a wooden hull. e aircra and crew had, on that fateful day, been detailed to carry out a training exercise. ere were four crew members Wing Commander eodore Quintus Studd DSC (believed to be under instruction on this ight.) Flying O cer John Charles Francis Peacock the Pilot and Instructor, Leading Aircra man Harry George omas Foley (service number 562523) and Aircra man 1 James Barry O’ Connell (service number 5612040). Newspaper reports from that time di er in their stories as some state that the aircra was trying to land, and others said that she was trying to take o . e o cial report from the Bureau of Aircra Accidents Archives states that the aircra was attempting to take o . On take-o the aircra appeared to have di culties gaining height. One employee at the nearby oil re nery, not far from the Calshot Station who witnessed the accident, con rmed that the ying boat was in the air but looked as though she was going into land perfectly normally. When she was close to the water she appeared to nose dive into the water with her tail stuck up into the air with parts of the fuselage in the water. A second eye witness stated that the aircra ‘porpoised’ on alighting, rose back into the air then nose-dived into the sea again. e sad result was that out of the four men on board two were killed, one injured and one lucky Aircra man, James Barry O’Connell, was ung away from the cra and survived uninjured. was reported missing. He was sighted in e Solent by a tug towing the North German liner ‘Bremmer’, in Cowes Roads, ten days a er the crash. e tug captain informed the Southampton Police and the body was recovered by the RAF Marine Section. Harry was only 20 years old. He was a local man from Portsmouth and his parents lived at 18 Oliver Road, Eastney. His father was a boilermaker, and said that Harry was a quiet and reserved boy. Harry was educated at Chivers School and had passed the examination for entry into the Royal Air Force. At the age of 15 he had been sent to RAF Halton and became an apprentice. At the time of the tragic accident he had already been at Calshot for a period of time, and was a member of the sailing and rowing clubs, winning several races for the Rowing club. Harry only started ying four weeks before the accident. e family requested that Harry did not have a military burial. A simple ceremony was held at Milton Cemetery, Portsmouth. It was o ciated by the local vicar the Reverend Windsor Robert (B.A.) and attended not only by a large crowd of family and sympathisers, but by 5 members from Harry’s ight at the RAF base at Calshot. At a later resumed inquest, the representative for the Air Ministry ‘Accident Branch’, Captain F.S. Williams, con rmed that the tail actuating gear was found to be in the fully forward position. is would have made the wooden ying boat extremely nose heavy making it nearly impossible for the aircra to take o from the water. In reply to the coroner, he con rmed that the responsibility for the position of the gear normally rested on the instructor of the aircra . e jury returned a verdict that the accident was due to ‘an error of judgement’. John Peacock Mrs Shea the previous year. John Charles Francis Peacock aged 28 was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saint’s Church Fawley. Although Flying O cer John Peacock was the pilot and instructor on the aircra at the time of the accident, he was not actually ying the cra . It was being own by Wing Commander eodore Quintus Studd. Wing Commander Studd survived with just cuts to his face. One of the crew, Leading Aircra man Harry George omas Foley (562523) e Pilot, Flying O cer John Charles Francis Peacock, was born in 1905 in Wandsworth, London to the Reverend Charles Alfred Peacock and his mother Annie, who was born in Canada. At the time of his son’s death the Reverend Peacock was vicar of All Saint’s Church in Stamford in Lincolnshire. John Charles was originally commissioned as a Pilot O cer on the 14th March 1931 and eventually arrived at RAF Calshot a er training, in June/July 1933. At the time of the accident he was both the Pilot and Instructor of that training ight. He su ered a broken arm and leg resulting from the crash and was taken to e Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. Sadly, he died the following day from his injuries. e Reverend C.H. Peacock said that his son had been in the RAF for four years and that John had been sent to Calshot on a course, a short time previously. John had married Miss Doreen Shea, the daughter of Major and Supermarine flying boat similar to the one that crashed in 1933 Veterans Breakfast Club Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club takes place on the second Saturday of every month at e Lord Nelson, High Street, Hythe. Go along on Saturday 12th August to enjoy the social interaction and banter with fellow veterans which will help improve your mental health and is good for PTSD. For more details text Graham on 07526 507053 or nd them on Facebook (Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club).
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