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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0404.PDF
JUNE 16, 192 I THE ROBINSON-CUFFLEY MEMORIAL AN important gathering took place at Cuffley, Herts, onJune 9 to participate in the Dedication of the Memorial which has, through the instrumentality of the Daily Express,been erected-upon the site where " L.21," the first German airship raider to be destroyed on British soil, was brought downby the late Capt. William Leefe Robinson, V.C., R.F.C. The " I Il^ht " CopyrightTHE ROBINSON-CUFFLEY MEMORIAL : At a corner of the Monument. The Rt. Hon. F. E. Guest,D.S.O., Secretary of State for Air, who unveiled the memorial ; General Sir Frederick Sykes, etc. beautiful obelisk was provided especially to perpetuate the memory of Capt. Robinson's association with the feat, and the occasion was duly honoured by a number of Air Ministry officials, the actual unveiling being performed by Capt. F. E. Guest, Secretary of State for Air. The site was presented to the public by Mrs. J. M. B. Kidston, of Nyn Park, Northaw. A guard of honour was supplied by the Royal Air Force, buglers of the force sounding the Last Post and the Reveille. A prayer was said by the Rev. F. R. Bonsey, Vicar of Northaw, and the lesson was read by the Chap- lain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force, the Rev. H. D. L. Viener. Mr. R. D. Blumenfeld, editor of the Daily Express, whose readers subscribed to the Memorial, briefly explained how the obelisk came to be erected "as a spontaneous tribute to the heroism of a national figure, whose name shall live for ever." The memorial is an obelisk of Cornish granite, 17 ft. high, on a solid base, steps and plinth, with old English York paving-stone and iron railing. The laurel-wreath and badge of the Royal Flying Corps in bronze surmounts the following inscription on the front :— Erected by readers of the " Daily Express " to the memory ofCAPTAIN WILLIAM LEEFE ROBINSON, V.C.,Worcs. Regt. and RFC. Who on September 3, 1916, above this spot, brought down L 21, the first German airship destroyed on British soil. The site of this monument was presented to the public by Mrs.J. M. B. Kidston, of Nyn Park, Northaw. On the sides is the account of the deed that won the V.C., with a record of Captain Robinson's captivity and death. Among those present were three "Flight" CopyrightOn duty at the sisters of Captain Robinson, the unveiling of the Baroness Hevking, Mrs. Irwin, and Robinson - Cuffley Mrs. Ross ; Miss Constance Robinson, Memorial : Con- an aunt; Baron Heyking, Mr. J. W. stable Y. 731, who Irwin, Air Vice-Marshal Sir John was the first at the Salmond, Admiral Murray Sueter, scene of the crash Major-General Sir Frederick Sykes, Sir of the air-raider. William Joynson - Hicks, M.P., Mrs. J. M. B. Kidston, Mr. and Miss Wilson-Fox, Captain J. L. Hawkesworth, Alderman and Mrs. Alex. Purkin Ginn, Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Fox, Councillor and Miss Searles, Mr. George C. Maile, Mr. J. Burwick Thompson and Captain Scott. "Flight" CopyrightTHE ROBINSON-CUFFLEY MEMORIAL : The scene during the Dedication Ceremony, and on the right the plinth of the memorial. ' - 404
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