Laois to host commemoration ceremony to mark first East-West Transatlantic Flight
Bremen Crew - Crew of first East-West Transatlantic Flight: including Laois man Col. James Fitzmaurice of the Irish Air Corps along with two German aviators (Hermann Kohl and Baron Ehrenfried Günther von Hünefeld).
NEXT Sunday a commemoration ceremony to mark the 98th anniversary of the first East-West Transatlantic Flight will take place in Fitzmaurice Place in Portlaoise at 12noon.
This annual commemoration marks this historic flight and also acknowledges the role played by local Portlaoise man Col James Fitzmaurice. The commemoration event will include speeches by members of the Irish Ari Corps, the Col. Fitzmaurice Commemorative Society and a student from CBS Portlaoise (the school Col. Fitzmaurice’s attended). There will also be a flyover by Limetree Airfield representatives.
Flight Discussion and Q&A This year the commemoration event in Fitzmaurice Place will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session in Kavanagh’s Bar starting at 13:00.
Laois Heritage Officer Thomas Carolan will be chatting to Brigadier General Rory O'Connor and Retired General Ralph James of the Irish Air Corps, and Teddy Fennelly, Colonel Fitzmaurice Commemorative Society about the famous flight and the life of Col. James Fitzmaurice.
Laois Heritage Officer Thomas Carolan said:
“Every year after the commemoration event, we have great conversations about the flight and Col. Fitzmaurice’s life, and we thought this is something the public would be interested to hear more about. Teddy Fennelly has written the book on Col. James Fitzmauirce’s life and the Air Corps representatives have a great understanding and appreciation of the technical skill required to complete the flight in 1928 so it’s very interesting”.
The First East-West Transatlantic Flight in 1928 The first ever East-West transatlantic flight in history was completed on the 12th April 1928. The crew included Laois man Col. James Fitzmaurice of the Irish Air Corps along with two German aviators (Hermann Kohl and Baron Ehrenfried Günther von Hünefeld). The flight took off from Baldonnel airport at 06.36 on 12th April and headed west towards New York. The aircraft successfully crossed the Atlantic and landed on Greenly Island, Canada 36.5 hours after take-off. After this great achievement, the crew appeared on the front of newspapers around the world and were received with a huge parade in New York. The flight had the full support and backing of the Irish Government and Fitzmaurice carried a letter from the Irish President for delivery to the US President.
