FLYING-BOAT CRASHES ON FLIGHT TO ICELAND

Southland Times, Issue 24833, 27 August 1942, Page 5

FLYING-BOAT CRASHES ON FLIGHT TO ICELAND

(Rec. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 25. Air-Commodore the Duke of Kent was killed on active service when his Sunderland flying-boat crashed in the north of Scotland. The Duke of Kent, who was attached to the staff of the Inspector-General of the Royal Air Force, was proceeding to Iceland on duty. All the crew of the flying-boat also lost their lives. Among those in the plane were the Duke’s equerry, the Hon. Michael Scott, and his valet. The bodies have been recovered from the wreckage and the Duke’s remains will be brought to London later. The crash was in no way due to enemy action. The King saw the Duke of Kent shortly before the fatal flight. The King and Queen received the news of the Duke’s death late at night. The news was also broken to the Duchess of Kent who was away from London. Prince Edward is the Duke of Kent’s heir, hut it is not certain that he will become Duke of Kent, because the King usually bestows Royal Dukedoms on one person and they do not descend. The Duke of Kent was designated Governor-General of Australia in 1938 after a period of diplomatic training in the Foreign Office, but because of the war he was unable to take up the appointment Two years ago he relinquished the rank of air vice-marshal and took the relatively subordinate rank of group captain. Since then he had devoted himself to the welfare of the Royal Air Force and had covered 15,000 miles in the course of his duties. Last month he made a secret flight to Canada in a Liberator bomber to inspect air training schools. He had since been promoted to air-commodore. The Duke of Kent was often in personal danger from enemy bombs, shells and machine-gun fire. He was visiting a south coast town a week ago when it was bombed and machinegunned, while shells from the batteries on the French coast fell in Dover when he was visiting it in November 1940. Bombs were dropped on a Kentish aerodrome four minutes after the Duke of Kent had departed during the Battle of Britain.