The Ghost of Captain Hinchliffe
Page 25
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Caxton Hall. It gives us great pleasure to bring you here tonight a lady who needs no introduction, a person whom the British people have taken to their hearts, a lady who has for the past two years issued dire warnings—warnings from the grave. Mrs. Emilie Hinchliffe will speak to you about her experiences and the subject of life after death. Please welcome, Mrs. Emilie Hinchliffe!”
Enthusiastic applause erupted. All eyes watched the dark blue stage curtains in anticipation. And then, to everyone's delight, came the gentle strains of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The Great Hall fell silent. The curtains slowly opened to reveal Millie at a grand piano, dressed in cobalt blue, surrounded by her artwork displayed on easels, each bathed in its own beam of light: the newly completed portrait of Captain Hinchliffe at center, Elsie Mackay, The Endeavour, Sir Sefton Brancker, Major Herbert Scott, Mrs. East, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Death of Freddie Marsh, The Last Straw, Death of R101 Near Paris, R101 & The Rabbit Poacher, The Mass Grave, Westminster Hall, and The Tomb at St. Mary's. Millie had recently completed a portrait of Lord Thomson of Cardington, and it too, stood proudly with the rest.
When Millie had finished playing the first movement, she got up and came to the lectern amid cheers and more applause. She looked down into the front row seats into the faces of Mrs. East, George Hunter, the Sinclairs, Reverend Grey, Barney the Blacksmith, Jonathan Mackay and Lord Inchcape. Also in that row were Joe Binks and Arthur Bell. The men in bowlers were noticeably absent. As the applause died down and people took their seats, Millie instinctively scanned the auditorium for Hinchliffe. She checked the end seat on the back row where he always sat. It was the only empty seat in the house. A wave of sadness washed over her and her heart almost stopped. He'd gone. She'd be on her own from now on. For solace, she put her hand to her neck, touching Elsie's gold crucifix, preparing herself to begin. But before she did, she thought of Doyle. She'd miss him too. He'd been good to her—like a protective father. She remembered his words, and did as he'd instructed. She lifted her head high and spoke boldly to those at the back of the auditorium.
“Good evening, my name is Emilie Hinchliffe.” More applause. “I've come here tonight to tell you my story,” she gestured to the relevant subject of artwork as she spoke. “It's about an heiress, an aeroplane, a ghost and the mightiest airship the world has ever seen. I know you've read the story of what happened to me, and to my husband and to many of his friends just recently. Tonight, I'm going to tell you the whole story. During and after that terrible war, Ouija boards became an obsession. How could they not, with so many of our husbands, sons, fathers and brothers lost—not to mention our wonderful sisters, who went to nurse those very men at the Front in those fields of death, to comfort and to heal, and who were, themselves, killed. My husband always called them ‘Angels of Mercy’. There wasn't a family that hadn't lost someone. …”
*
After the crash of Cardington R101 and the removal of bodies, four items of note were found: a monocle, a red key ring marked R101, a stylish woman's shoe and a smoldering Persian carpet.
*
The following spring, Hunter arrived at Pickwick Cottage in a van he'd borrowed. It was full of timber he'd bought from the local wood yard, along with tools, nails and white paint. He set about completing the picket fence Hinchliffe had started a long time ago. He was ably assisted by Sinclair and Joan.
*
The following year, a government report was issued after an extensive, well-managed inquiry. No blame was cast. The cause of the disaster was due to a loss of gas, the report stated, and not due to any structural failure. There was no criticism of Lord Thomson, the Air Ministry or the Royal Airship Works at Cardington. Nor was any fault found with the ship's captain, her officers or her crew.
*
In that same year, Cardington R101's sister ship, Howden R100, constructed by Vickers, was carefully dismantled and systematically destroyed. It was announced by the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, that the British Airship Program had been terminated.
ix
Millie's vision of the tomb in St. Mary's churchyard
Photograph courtesy of Jane Harvey.
Artwork by Eddie Ankers.
x
WEATHER MAP OF NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
March 13, 1928.
Reprinted by permission of American Meteorological Society
This weather map was current around noon.
The low pressure system moved toward the east during the flight of Endeavour.
xi
FLIGHT OF ENDEAVOUR MARCH 13, 1928
&
NORTH ATLANTIC CURRENTS
North Atlantic map courtesy of d-map.com.
Route and currents by John Taylor
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction based on actual events. It is my hope that this novel piques the reader’s interest in this dramatic era of aviation history, especially concerning the brave women aviators of that period—and there were many whose stories have been forgotten.
Some characters are based on real people, others are fictional. Some events in the novel took place, others did not. After some years of research, I took what I thought was the essence of the characters involved and built on those qualities for dramatic effect, with fictional characters woven into the story to take part and to witness events.
I took liberties for dramatic effect with information drawn from many books. Actual events on board during flights, as well as the dialogue throughout the novel is, of course, conjecture. However, much of the dialogue during the séances is true. For readers interested in the characters and the airships in this story, they may enjoy The Airshipmen (see overleaf).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to my consulting editor at LCD Editing (lcdediting.com) who has put many years into this project.
I am also indebted to John Taylor, lighter-than-air flight test engineer and consultant and writer of Principles of Aerostatics: The Theory of LTA Flight, who conducted a technical review and spent many hours reading and critiquing this manuscript and offering a wealth of advice, not only regarding airships, but also on formatting and preparing this book for publication.
Artwork and book cover design by Anthony Close, Dartmouth, Great Britain.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES
Inspiration, information and facts were drawn from an array of books, newspapers, magazines and documents of the period, including:
The Return of Captain W.G.R. Hinchliffe D.F.C., A.F.C. Emilie Hinchliffe
The Airmen Who Would Not Die. John Fuller. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.
Report of the R101 Inquiry. Presented by the Secretary of State for Air to Parliament, March 1931.
Icarus Over the Humber. T.W. Jamison. Lampada Press.
To Ride the Storm. Sir Peter Masefield. William Kimber, London.
Millionth Chance. James Lessor. House of Stratus, Stratus Books Ltd., England.
Sefton Brancker. Norman Macmillan. William Heinemann Ltd., London.
The Tragedy of R101. E. F. Spanner. The Crypt House Press Ltd., London.
Daily Express March 17, 1928 newspaper article.
Daily Express March 22, 1928 newspaper article.
Daily Express August 1st, 1928 newspaper article.
THE AIRSHIPMEN
A NOVEL
DAVID DENNINGTON
Many of the characters in The Ghost of Captain Hinchliffe also appear in The Airshipmen, an epic adventure, portraying the lives, sweat, tears and heartbreak of the men and women involved in building and flying the great airships of the Golden Age.
Available online at Amazon worldwide and at retail booksellers.
PRAISE FOR THE AIRSHIPMEN
This is a big story, layered and cinematic, that I did not want to end. I could not imagine myself reading a book about airships, but it's much more than that - it's about blinding love, vaulting ambition, loyalty, greed, deception and the whole gamut of human frailty. It’s
about a wonderful group of people that I came to love - full of secrets and surprises. This book is hard to put down.
Edith Schorah, Editor, Palm Beach Co., Florida.
A riveting story that plays out against the background of one of the most intriguing chapters in aviation history. David Dennington weaves a fascinating web of romance, courage, tragedy and shattered dreams and gives the reader a front row seat to eye-opening, high-stakes political battles on two continents. A real page turner with the constant feeling that something new and unexpected is about to unfold.
David Wright, former journalist with the Daily Mirror.
Hats off! A gripping story masterfully told, the book reverberates in the reader’s mind long after it is over. The characters are believable and involving, complicated, rich and conflicted. The chronicle renders these historical characters in flesh and blood, their saga replete with concrete and exquisite details. This is a wonderful book—humane and filled with the love of the men for their wives and families while at the same time highly attuned to the highest levels of power and the effect that the decisions made at those echelons influence not only the course of human events on the grand scale, but the very humble small-scale lives of the men caught in the crossfire. It illuminates a fascinating period of recent history almost lost from view and it does justice to the complexities of the personalities of the people involved.
Steven Bauer, former Director of Creative Writing, Miami University, Oxford OH.
An impressively crafted multilayered novel, The Airshipmen is a fully absorbing read from beginning to end and clearly showcases author David Dennington as a gifted storyteller of the first order. A solidly entertaining novel, The Airshipmen is very highly recommended for community library General Fiction collections. Midwest Book Review
The Airshipmen is a very human story ... historical fiction based primarily in Britain in the 1920s and follows the sweeping passions and adventures of the airship industry... with main characters, Lou and Charlotte, both beautifully flawed characters. Lou is haunted by his experiences in The Great War, as well as the R38 disaster, but his love for airships keeps drawing him into a high-risk career path. Charlotte had witnessed the R38 disaster firsthand. She doesn't trust airships and longs for Lou to walk away from them ... an incredibly interesting fictionalized take on an important time in air travel ... recommended for fans of historical fiction with a touch of fantasy.
Portland Book Review
A very big novel in every way, unique, beautifully written and perfectly paced ... setting the scene so well ... the first of a true new genre ... weaving us around the events of the great Airship R101 tragedy, the people and places we know well ... with wonderfully rich characters ... researched in immaculate detail. Alastair Lawson, Vice Chairman, Airship Heritage Trust, Cardington, UK.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Dennington was born in Durham, England, and grew up in Brixton, a suburb of London. He graduated from Brixton School of Building and became an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Building. He traveled and worked in Dubai, Bahamas, Bermuda and Florida where he worked as a construction manager. He now resides in Virginia with his wife.
For more information please visit the author's website
http://www.daviddennington.com
Twitter: @ddennington1
Facebook: David-Dennington-Author
https://www.facebook.com/David-Dennington-Author-763141363871998/
THANK YOU FOR READING THE GHOST OF CAPTAIN HINCHLIFFE
Readers interested in these airships and the fate of their crews will enjoy The Airshipmen where Lou Remington, Charlotte, Lord Thomson, Emilie Hinchliffe, and many others play major roles.
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Captain-Hinchliffe-Novel-ebook/dp/B074XR737V
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074XR737V