West Wight residents were astounded to see a biplane emerge from a heavy rainstorm and land on Tennyson Down at around 15:45 on 16th July 1910 – 113 years ago today.
This was the 1st ever plane to land on the Isle of Wight and almost certainly the 1st time most locals had ever seen a new-fangled flying machine.
The pilot Robert Loraine had been taking part in the Bournemouth Flying Meeting. His Henry Farman biplane had no compass, and visibility was practically nil, so he had been forced to make an unscheduled landing.
Soldiers pushed his flying machine to a sheltered pit at the bottom of the down just off the fairway of the Old Needles Golf Course. Loraine was low on fuel, so he got his French mechanic Vedrines to travel to the mainland to buy the special oil and petrol he required. A few days later, soldiers dragged his aircraft to the 3rd Green of the golf course, from where he took off, witnessed by a curious crowd of some 2 thousand locals.
The pilot – the once-famous Robert ‘Bobbie’ Lorraine – is now an obscure figure. However, he was known in his heyday as the ‘Actor-Airman’, who had become a matinee idol before gaining his Royal Aero Club pilot’s certification in 1910 at the age of 35.
The 1st man to land an aircraft on the Isle of Wight had a reputation for unpredictability. On the outbreak of war in 1914, he volunteered his services as a pilot to the Royal Flying Corps and then proceeded to wreck several aircraft. However, the Royal Flying Corps’ need for pilots ensured he became a flying officer.
On 26th October 1915, Loraine won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and skill when he attacked a German Albatross biplane, following it from a height of 9,000 feet to 600 feet. The enemy pilot was hit, and his camera and wireless transmitter were subsequently found to have bullet-holes through them.
Loraine later risked his life by flying back over the German lines to drop a note of condolence onto the German airfield. In 1918, he was forced to relinquish his commission because of a gunshot wound to his left knee. He was granted the honorary rank of Major and returned to the stage and the life of an actor.
Robert ‘Bobbie’ Lorraine DSO MC died in London on 23rd December 1935.
The Wight Aviation Museum has a detailed display all about this gentleman…worth a look!!!
A very interesting story, Thank you.
Wow an amazing story and had never heard about him before. Thanks for finding info on the lesser known characters from our Islands history. Truly interesting.
A wonderful exhibit of Mr Lorraine at Wight Aviation Museum sandown airport