An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 ward across the ground in the direction of the road facing the stand. But the machine refused to lift, owing to the bad condition of the engine, and the heavy loading of the ma- chine. He therefore 'taxied' round to the right just in time to save himself from running into the crowd. The machine then careered onwards across the road running from the stands to the station, and the right wing struck one of the small flags with which the road was marked with absurd profusion. The near side tyre burst when it struck the 'kerb' of the road, and the machine came to rest a short distance from the Press tent. Arthur expressed the intention of mak- ing another start, and there¬fore had his machine wheeled back to his previous starting place. When, however, it was seen that the wing had been torn in striking the flag-post, he wisely determined not to make another attempt.' Some- what generously, the organizers awarded him a special prize of £25, plus £40 for expenses. He joined No 2 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps on 17th April 1913, based at Montrose. At 7.30am on Tuesday 27th May 1913 Arthur's BE2 biplane No 205 collapsed without warning while flying over Montrose during a routine train- ing flight. He had been in the air for about half an hour. Ar- thur had begun to descend in a left-hand spiral from 2500 feet and had made one complete turn. Shortly after this the aircraft appeared bank to the right, the outside edge of the top right-hand wing was seen to fail and the wing col- lapsed. A puff of smoke from the engine was also seen from the ground and the sound of the engine note increased. The aircraft fell comparatively slowly to the ground. The pilot was seen to fall from the aircraft shortly after the increase in engine noise was heard. He struck the ground about 160 yards from the place where the aircraft fell, and was killed instantly. The aircraft was a complete write-off. A report issued by the Accidents and Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club on 21st June 1913 found that the accident had been caused by the incompetent repair of a broken spar by an unknown mechanic. It was thought that the damage to the aircraft had been accidental, and poorly re- paired to prevent detection prior to the aircraft being trans- ferred from Farnborough to Montrose a few weeks earlier; flown there by another Irishman, No 2 Squadron's CO, Major Charles James Burke, from Armagh. Arthur's death was the seventh to occur in the Royal Flying Corps, and the first at Montrose. He was the first native-born Irishman to be killed in an aircraft accident. He is buried in Sleepy Hillock Cem- etery, Montrose. Meanwhile, Cecil Grace had lost his life in December 1910, when attempting a flight across the English Channel. It would appear, however, that Arthur's was an unquiet spirit as there was a suggestion of a government cover- up. An official inquiry opened on 11th July 1913. In 1914 the MP for Brentford, William Joynson-Hicks, complained of a whitewash and stated that the Secretary of State for War Colonel JEB Seely would not admit to the faulty repair. In the spring of 1916 the aircraft manufacturer, Noel Pember- ton Billing, demanded a judicial enquiry into the military and naval air service, as 'certain officers had been murdered rather than killed by the carelessness, incompetence or ignorance of their senior officers or of the technical side of those two services.' An official investigation by a Govern- ment committee set up on 3rd August 1916 concluded that the pilot was at fault and that he had been flying recklessly. Shortly after this was published Major Cyril Foggin saw a ghostly figure enter the Officers' Mess at Montrose. A few days later he saw the apparition again and once more it vanished. There were further sightings by other officers and instructors, all in or around what had been the mess of the No 2 Squadron. As sightings spread more widely the ghost became known as the 'Irish Apparition' or the 'Montrose Ghost'. Fear of the ghost caused guards to desert their posts and personnel to request transfer from the base. The ghost was named as Desmond Arthur by the editor of The Aeroplane, CG Grey. Grey, who had been a friend of Desmond Arthur, believed that the appearance of his ghost was linked with the publication of the official investigation. A further report, published at the end of 1916, reinstated the reputation of Arthur, finding that the crash was after all due to a damaged wing. The ghost finally appeared on 17th January 1917 and disappeared again until 1940. Among the many famous RAF pilots who trained at Montrose there is another Irish connection, as one of those was Wing Commander Brendan Finucane, the top scor- ing Irish ace. In 1940 the pilot of a Hawker Hurricane was distracted by a mysterious biplane whilst searching for an enemy intruder. In 1942, another pilot stationed at Montrose was killed when he crashed into the runway not long after take-off. A week before he had quarrelled with his mechanic. An Inquiry was held but failing to find suf- ficient evidence of deliberate tamper- ing, the charges were dropped. Shortly after the crash, there were reports of a ghost appearing at the airfield wear- ing a flying suit and goggles, walking along the flight line, emerging from the fog. New trainees were routinely briefed on the ghost. Dozens of sight- ings occurred of a figure in a white flying suit and a leather helmet until the airfield closed in the 1952. Arthur at Leopardstown Sept 1912 Grace's Farman Leopardstown 1910

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