ENGLISH SOCIETY LEADERS KILLED IN AIR CRASH

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1030, 22 July 1930, Page 1

ENGLISH SOCIETY LEADERS KILLED IN AIR CRASH

tragic loss of six lives

Marquess and Viscountess Dead

AIR-TAXI falls into orchard

Terrible Scene of Wreckage

United P.A. —By Telegraph—Copyright Received 11.5 a.m. LONDON, Monday. A BRITISH air taxi from Le Touquet crashed near Gravesend and four men and two women were killed. The machine exploded in mid-air and pieces of the , wreckage came floating down into an orchard.

The machine, which was a Junker Wane, belonged to Colonel Henderson who was using It on behalf of the Walcot Air Lines, which operated en air taxi service from Croydon. It had earlier in the day crossed to Le Touquet and brought one party to Croydon and had then set off again to fetch Lord Dufferin and his friends. The crash occurred on the return journey. Flying conditions had been extremely difficult throughout the day. Villagers at Moephan, near Gravesend, saw the big airplane wobbling badly as it approached from the Channel in pouring rain. The passengers were prominent members of society, and all were killed instantly. The victims were: The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. Sir Edward Ward. Viscountess Ednam. Mrs. Henrik Loeffler. Colonel G. Henderson, pilot. C. Shearing, second pilot. The five bodies, terribly mutilated, were found in the orchard. Colonel Henderson lay nearby, still strapped in the pilot’s seat, but he expired as the rescuers arrived. The main part of the fuselage, with one wing attached, fell into the garden of a bungalow. The engine crashed on the drive of an adjoining house. A wing fluttered down two miles away, and other parts were widely scattered. The petrol tanks were picked up intact, which, with the absence of signs of fire, makes it difficult to account for the reports than an explosion occurred. The orchard presented a ghastly spectacle, rendering identification most difficult. Lord Dufferin, who was 55 years of age, was the first Speaker in the Senate of Northern Ireland, having held the post since 1921. He had a distinguished army career, as had also Sir Edward Ward, who during the war was a Captain in the Grenadier Guards. Viscountess Ednam was a sister of the Duke of Sutherland, and wife of the heir to Earl Dudley. She and Mrs. Loeffler were prominent figures in London social life. Mrs. Loeffler was a well-known West End hostess. She often entertained the Prince of Wales. She was returning from a party at Le Touquet, where she entertained among others, Colonel Piers Leigh, the Prince of Wales's equerry. LORD DUFFERIN Frederick Temple-Blackwood, third

Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, was born at Ottawa in IS7s.** He was the fourth sbn of the first Marquess, tie entered the Army in 1897, with the rank of captain in the 9th Lancers. He served in South Africa, was mentioned twice in dispatches and was severelywounded. He also served in the European War and was again wounded. After his first retirement from the Army previous to the World War, he took up a semi-administrative career and early in 1914 was military secretary to the Governor-General of Australia at that time. In 1920 he was Speaker of the Senate of the Parlia-

ment of Northern Ireland and subsequently was appointed a Privy Councillor of Ireland. His military decorations included the D.S.O. His heir is the Earl of Ava. SIR EDWARD WARD Captain Sir Edward Ward, late of the Grenadier Guards, was the second baronet. He succeeded his father in 1928. He was 48 years of age.