James Fitzmaurice (pilot)
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This article is about the 20th-century pilot. For the 16th-century Irish rebel, see James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald.
James FitzMaurice (January 6, 1898 – September 26, 1965) was an aviator pioneer. He was a member of the crew of the Bremen, which made the first successful Trans-Atlantic aircraft flight from East to West on April 12, 1928 – April 13, 1928.
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[edit] Early life
James was born in Dublin, Ireland on January 6, 1898. Considering the customs in his father's family, he was probably baptized "James Michael" and added the name "Christopher" at confirmation. His parents were Michael FitzMaurice and Mary Agnes O' Riordan. The family was then residing at 35 Mountjoy Cottages on Dublin's North Circular Road.
May 23, 1902 At age four, James moved with his parents to a house on Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Ireland. James attended St. Mary's, a Christian Brothers School in Maryboro (Portlaoise) until shortly before his 16th birthday. In 1914 James joined the Irish National Volunteers. Later that year, James enlisted in the Cadet Company of the 7th Battalion of the Leinsters. He was then 16 years of age although the "required" minimum age was 19. James was taken out by his father for being underage.
[edit] World War I
In 1915, James enlisted in the British Army, 17th Lancers (a cavalry unit). He was sent to France, was wounded, and was twice recommended for a commission. James arrived in France circa May 1916. He was then posted to another English unit, the 7th Battalion of the Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment of Foot. It was part of the 55th Brigade in the British 55th division. In July 1916, James fought in the Battle of the Somme.
In 1916, James became an acting sergeant in the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey). On his 19th birthday in January 1917, James held the rank of Corporal, was an acting Sergeant, and commanded Platoon No. 13 of D Company of the 7th Queen's. In May 1917, James was approved for a commission. On June 8, 1917 Cpl. Fitzmaurice left for England "to take up commission". He was sent for training to Cadet College and gazetted to 8th Battalion, Liverpool Irish Regiment. James was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on November 28, 1917 and was posted to the 8th Irish Battalion of the King's (Liverpool) Regiment. James was then posted to the School of Military Aeronautics at Reading. June 1, 1918 James began his "practical flying training" at Eastbourne Aerodrome. October 28, 1918 Having completed his elementary training at Eastbourne, James was posted to the No. 1 School of Fighting and Aerial Gunnery at Marske-by-the-Sea, near Middlesbrough. James completed his training as a fighter pilot and was posted to sail to France on November 11, 1918 the day that the Armistice with Germany became effective. His sailing was cancelled when the Armistice was announced.
[edit] After the war
James married Violet "Bill" Clarke on his 21st birthday. James continued in the Royal Air Force, flying the mails with 110th Squadron. He served in the "Army of Occupation" until 1919. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1919 and was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant. In May 1919, James was selected to undertake the first night mail flight (Folkestone to Boulogne). In 1919, James was selected for a Cape to Cairo flight (which did not materialize). From Sep - Nov 1919, James commanded the 6th Wing Working Party of the RAF. He was assigned the task of removing useful material from six aerodromes which had been deactivated. In December James was demobilized and spent most of the following 18 months selling insurance for the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company.
Circa May 1921, Patricia Fitzmaurice was born. She was the only child of Violet and James. James was recalled in May of 1921 after 18 months and was attached to No. 25 Fighter Squadron. He accepted a Short Service Commission for four to six years. August of 1921 James resigned his RAF commission.
Sometime during his service in the RAF, James adopted the accent used by English officers. He apparently retained this distinctively non-Irish accent for the remainder of his life. While his new accent may have helped his career in the RAF, it was probably a net disadvantage when he was promoting any of his business schemes in Ireland.
In February 1922 James joined the Irish Army Corps following the formation of the Irish Free State. Early 1923 James was promoted to Captain. On October 25, 1925 James was promoted to Acting Commandant and was appointed second-in-command of the Irish Air Corps, with headquarters in Baldonnel. He was later promoted to Commandant on September 1, 1927.
September 16, 1927 The Princess Xenia (a Fokker Vila aircraft) took off from Baldonnel Aerodrome headed for New York with a planned landing at Newfoundland. The pilot was Captain Robert Henry MacIntosh. Co-pilots were Maurice W. Piercey and James Fitzmaurice. Because of bad weather, the flight was aborted when the Xenia was about 300 miles out over the Atlantic. The flight lasted five and a half hours.
[edit] Bremen flight
April 12-13, 1928 James flew in the crew of the Bremen on the first transatlantic aircraft flight from East to West. The crew consisted of:
- Captain Hermann Köhl (15 Apr 1888 — 7 Oct 1938), pilot;
- Captain James Fitzmaurice, (6 Jan 1898 — 26 Sep 1965) co-pilot; and Baron Ehrenfried Guenther von Hünefeld (1 May 1892 — 4 Feb 1929), owner.
Köhl made a "perfect three-point landing" on a shallow, ice-covered, water reservoir (which James called a "lagoon") at Greenly Island. Just as the Bremen came to a stop, it broke through the ice. The tail then projected about 20 feet (6 m) into the air. Everybody got wet but everybody was safe.
[edit] After the flight
April 14-26 1928 Reporters and photographers rushed towards Greenly Island to cover the story of the Bremen and its crew. At the height of the activity, there were 60 reporters who were covering the story from the field. Canadian Transcontinental Airways pilot C. A. "Duke" Schiller, acting as a reporter for the Toronto Daily Star, arrived at Greenly on Sun April 15, 1928. Shortly afterwards, Canadian Transcontinental Airways Chief Pilot, Roméo Vachon arrived with four passengers: photographers Roy Fernstom of Associated Press and Edward N. Jackson of Pacific and Atlantic Photos, with reporters Leslie Roberts of Hearst and James Stanton of the Quebec Chronicle Express.
Roméo Vachon was not only a pilot but also a licensed engineer. He is reported to have declared that the Junkers could not fly because its engine's crankshaft was bent. This did not prevent others from trying to fly the Bremen off Greenly Island. However, they were never able to start the engine.
26 Apr 1928: After 13 days of fruitless attempts to repair the Bremen and fly it to New York, the three flyers left Greenly Island on a Ford Trimotor Aircraft flown by Bernt Balchen. They flew to Curtis Field, Long Island, New York with a stop at Lac Ste. Agnes, Quebec. Also aboard the plane were Charles J. V. Murphy (reporter from the New York World|New York World) and Ernest Köppen (mechanic from Junkers).
The crew of the Bremen then began a two-month tour of cities in North America and Europe to be celebrated as heroes:
- Mon 30 April 1928: Parade in New York City over a route ten miles long.
- Wed 2 May 1928: Each of the three fliers received the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Coolidge in Washington, D.C.
- Wed 9 May 1928: Philadelphia, PA
- Thu 10 May 1928: Cleveland, Ohio
- Official welcome to Chicago on Fri and Sat, 12 and 13 May 1928. Sun 13 May 1928: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Tue 15 May 1928: Saint Louis, Missouri
- Thu 17 May 1928: Detroit, Michigan
- Fri 18 May 1928: Boston, Massachusetts
- Mon 21 May 1928: Albany, New York
- Tue 22 May 1928: Montreal, P.Q., Canada
- Wed 23 May 1928: Quebec, P.Q., Canada
- Fri 25 May 1928: Back in New York
- 9 Jun 1928: The three flyers sailed for Europe aboard the Columbus.
- 18 Jun 1928: The Columbus arrived in Bremerhaven. The flyers were feted in the city of Bremen.
- 19 Jun 1928: The three flyers flew to Berlin aboard the Europa 11, a sister ship to the Bremen.
- Thu 21 Jun 1928: The flyers were received by President Hindenburg.
- 30 Jun 1928: The names of the three flyers were added to the "Roll of the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin".
- Tue and Wed, 3 and 4 July 1928: The flyers were feted in Dublin.
- Thu 5 July 1928: Welcomed in the city of Limerick.
- Fri 6 July 1928: The flyers met the abdicated Kaiser in Doorn Castle in Holland. They stayed in Doorn over the weekend and then separated as their tour ended.
- The two German flyers continued the tour through several German cities as well as Vienna and Budapest
James was promoted to Major retroactively to 13 April 1928. James was promoted to Colonel on 24 August 1928. The appointment was backdated one year (with back pay).
Circa 2 February 1929: James resigned from the Irish Air Corps.
Circa January 1931: James and Violet were divorced.
27 February 1933: While in Germany attempting to negotiate with German aircraft manufacturers, James saw the Reichstag building in Berlin burn down. On the same trip, James had a meeting with Adolf Hitler.
James spent most of the 1930s in the vicinity of New York City.
During World War II, James operated a club for servicemen in London. An article written by Andrew A. Rooney (then a staff writer, later a TV star) for the 8 June 1943 edition of Stars and Stripes notes that James was a member of the newly formed "London Hangar" of the "Quiet Birdmen", an international social club for veteran fliers.
During the late 1940s, James returned to Ireland to look for work.
In early 1953, James resided at Garville Avenue, Rathgar.
April 1953: As the only survivor of the crew of the Bremen, James took part in the remembrance ceremony "25 years of the first East to West Transatlantic flight". In memory of his friends Köhl and von Hünefeld, he laid down a wreath on this occasion. On 10 April 1953, Col. Fitzmaurice was welcomed in Bremen. Upon arrival at the airport he was picked up in a modern "Borgward Hansa 1500 Sport Cabrio" escorted by police motor-cycles. He stayed in Bremen until April 17 and took the opportunity to fly at the local airfield with flying instructor Jan Eilers.
1 June 1955: James was a guest of honor on board the Lufthansa route trial flight E4 400/01 from Shannon to New York. Lufthansa made a photo showing James with German Minister of Transport, Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, and Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer, Hans M. Bongers.
8 June 1955: The successful trial was followed by the first scheduled flight. The Lockheed Super Constellation L-1049 G took off from Hamburg and flew via Düsseldorf and Shannon to New York-Idlewild. The time elapsed between liftoff at Hamburg and touchdown at Idlewild was 17 hours. The aircraft, D-ALEM, was restored by Horst Jahnke and is now exhibited at the Munich airport.
27 July 1955: A Lufthansa representative met with James in Dublin, at 15, Lr. Pembroke Street to hand over a photo of a previous meeting with Lockheed in New York. James indicated that he was about to leave Ireland because there was no work for him in aviation. James said that Ireland had lost its importance as a port of departure for North Atlantic flights with the development of new types of aircraft.
1 September 1965: James was invited as a guest of honor to attend the International Traffic Exhibition (Internationale Verkehrsausstellung, IVA) which had opened on 25 Jun 1965 in Munich, Germany. On the aviation honor day, James was presented with the special air pioneer award, "die Pioneer Kette der Windrose" and a breast pin set with a brilliant, an honor granted previously to such personalities as Wernherr von Braun, Wolfgang von Gronau, and the Russian Cosmonaut Komaroff. During his journey to and from Munich, it was noticeable that the health of James was failing but he was reluctant to use a wheelchair. (Lufthansa Archive)
James died on Sunday, 26 September 1965 in Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin.
James received a state funeral followed by interment at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
