This is my first post as a new member would be extremely grateful to receive assistance with research that I am carrying out on Imperial Airways and there association with their flying boats re-fuelling in Elounda, in Crete. Is it possible that there are records somewhere of the passengers that used these Imperial Airways flights or at least newspaper or other publications that might have recorded famous people using them during the years 1929 to 1939.
It is widely reported that both Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi both used the service and also stayed overnight in the accommodation provided in Elounda. I have been in touch with both the Churchill and Gandhi research organisations who both say these flight did not take place. However speaking to several old men who were alive at the time, they are adamant that both Churchill and Gandhi did stay over in Elounda. One problem is that Gandhi always said he would not fly but there may have been a secret meeting between these two political opponents, with Gandhi sailing to Elounda and Churchill who was known to use Imperial Airways, flying to this out of the way location for a meeting not for public consumption.
Incidently I am writing a booklet on this subject including the flying boat Shorts Kent ‘Scipio’ crash (22/08/1936) and its pilots, together with further information regarding the tender ship M.V.Imperia and its crew, both before , during and after the crash. If anyone needs any definitive information regarding Imperial Airways and Elounda, I would be more than happy to oblige. In August this year we had a commemorative service(1936-2016)with a wreath laying at the grave of the two deceased passengers, a representative of the British Embassy in Athens was in attendance.
Davis
By: RMAllnutt - 21st June 2020 at 22:49
Thanks for your posts on this issue, and sorry to raise an old thread from the dead…
Davis, I’m interested in talking with you further about Imperial Airways and their Short Kent flying boat service from Anthens to Alexandria via Mirabella Bay on Crete. I tried to send a private message, but that feature doesn’t seem to work, sadly. My own grandfather flew on the Imperial Airways service from Croydon to Moshi, Tanganyika. I’ve been able to determine it was in October, 1936, leaving Croydon on the 13th (aboard HP.42 Heracles) for Paris, then taking the train to Brindisi, where he would have presumably boarded Short Kent ‘Satyrus’, which then flew to Athens, and from there to Alexandria via Mirabella. From there he flew aboard the HP.42 Hengist to Entebbe (via a number of stops), where he then picked up an Armstrong Whitworth AW.15 named Astraea.
Based upon what I’ve read, they didn’t typically overnight in Mirabella by 1936, although I may be wrong. I have found a number of contemporary newspaper articles about the Scipio’s accident, including one describing an incident in the same plane at Mirabella in 1931 which had a less traumatic conclusion (obviously). Interestingly, the Greek civil war in 1935 caused all sorts of mayhem for Imperial Airways and their operations on Crete, as that’s where the rebel faction chose to hole up!
Oh, and the clock you referred to as having been salvaged from Scipio was likely one removed from the bulkhead in the passenger cabin… They had a large on there for passengers, along with other instruments, such as an altimeter and ASI. There’s a wonderful photograph of the bulkhead in the collection of the U.S. Library of Congress. I’ve included it here for you. In any event, I’d love to chat!
Cheers,
Richard Mallory Allnutt
Sign In
October 13, 2016 at 2:13 pm