News
Calls for pilot memorial to be reinstated
28/10/2009 16:17:00
A MEMORIAL to the first pilot in history to land a plane on an aircraft carrier lies on the shores of Scapa Flow where it has been sadly neglected over the years.
Now, the state of the poignant memorial has been highlighted to a local wartime interest group who have made calls for the urgent reinstatement of the memorial.
Commander Edwin Dunning made world history when he became the first man to land a plane on a moving vessel in August 1917; touching down his single-engined Sopwith Pup while the vessel, HMS Furious, sailed across the Flow. Sadly, he died attempting the same feat a few days later.
A gold inscribed rock to Dunning and his achievement was unveiled in 1992 but it has been practically obliterated by the sea and weather.
The disgraceful condition of the monument has been highlighted by the Orkney Defence Interest Network (ODIN), whose chairwoman, Anne Billing, said: "It is with considerable sadness that one looks at the memorial today and realises that this is all there is to remind us of Dunning's remarkable feat.
"He achieved what was regarded as the 'impossible' and, by highlighting the poor condition of the stone, we hope the memorial will be reinstated so it is fit for the hero he is."
Two days after his successfully landing on HMS Furious, Dunning made a second landing but a further attempt ended in disaster when his plane swept over the side of the deck and he drowned before help could get to him.
The monument, situated on the Orphir shore below Smoogro House, was unveiled by Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo, a former captain of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, on the 75th anniversary of Dunning's death, in 1992.
The anniversary would have passed unrecognised if it had not been for Brian Clouston, then owner of Smoogro, a former naval airbase during the first world war.
He decided a memorial to Dunning on the beach below his holiday home would be appropriate and engaged the St Magnus Cathedral stonemason at the time, Alan Stout, to carve an inscription on a large rock.
The project was privately funded by Mr Clouston, an architect, with small donations from Balfour Beatty, the building company, and British Airways, which flew members of the Dunning family to Orkney for the official unveiling.
ODIN is a recently formed group hoping to raise the profile of Orkney's wartime heritage. It believes that wartime defence sites are the "new archaeology" and deserve the same protection and promotion as more traditional archaeological monuments.
The group hope to be the catalyst for the creation of a Wartime Trail for visitors to Orkney. The executive committee comprise: Anne Billing, Deerness; John Clarke, Rendall; Gavin Lindsay, Kirkwall; Lynn Campbell, Harray; Ken Hambly, Holm; and James Miller, Firth.