(22nd May 2008)
‘VIPs, Dedicated Crews and Precious Cargoes’
The Salterns Marina Hotel, courtesy of much-welcome sponsorship, provided an appropriate venue for the supporters of Poole Flying Boats Celebration (PFBC), where this charity marked the occasion of the Flying Boats belonging to BOAC, leaving Poole to return to The Solent in the Spring of 1948.
Salterns had been the headquarters of the operations from 1940, which saw the formation of BOAC with Poole its birthplace, as the British Overseas Airways Corporation - the forerunner of today’s BA.
The Diamond Jubilee celebration was attended by very special guests including Captain James Peers, who flew many famous BOAC aircraft from Canopus, the first of the wonderful C-Class Flying Boats through to the Golden Hind, which provided the last of the scheduled passenger services from Poole… Captain Jim Peers also flew along the Horseshoe Route (so named as its shape as an inverted horseshoe) between South Africa and Australia, when the Nazi occupation of France ended Mediterranean services. He also piloted Corsair which had become renown for being rescued after being stuck in the Congo mud - and was restored again in the war for Jim to pilot her from Poole, but his favourite was the Cleopatra !
He later flew the De Haviland Comet aeroplanes for BOAC over long distances to the Far East & Japan.
Another guest, Vic Pitcher was the Navigator on all 3 of the great Flying Boats which came to BOAC at Poole on lend-lease from the United States, having originally being ordered from Boeing by PanAm. These continued for a short time postwar providing Transatlantic services until replaced by land planes. He recalls being held aloft by fellow crew members in dreadful weather conditions within driving rain - looking for breaks in the cloud for glimpses of the stars (identified by their positions, intensity of light, and colours) so that he could be sure of the course - when the magnetic compasses were also affected ! This strange variation in the accuracy of the compass often happened when flying to & from Bermuda.
His wife Pat was a former manager of BOAC at Poole Harbour and remembers the large number of VIP passengers who used the Flying Boats, also the precious cargoes of diamonds etc. which were sometimes carried over to the USA, and in having to spend the night behind a locked door at the depot at the former Poole Pottery site, now Dolphin Quays! Night Flying from Poole was not permitted for safety reasons…
They were however, the occasional night-time training flight of the Flying Boats of RAF Hamworthy, and Seaplanes at RNAS Sandbanks took place.
Local author Leslie Dawson gave a presentation, and referred to his new book about Poole’s Flying Boats and their remarkable history - due to be published later this year as the definitive work on this subject…
Then John Newton, the Chair of the PFBC Committee made the announcement that there is now a group called ‘Friends of PFBC’ where its members can benefit from invitations, receive news & special offers.
An interesting afterthought, is that Poole was offered by BOAC in 1946 Canopus as a tourist and museum attraction, free-of-charge and expenses paid to say thank you to the 600 staff who had served them locally. Sadly this offer was declined: Just imagine the interest there would have been in this beautiful Flying Boat !
