James Fitzmaurice

James FitzMaurice (January 6, 1898 - September 26, 1965) was an aviator pioneer. He was a member of the crew of the Bremen. The Bremen made the first successful Trans-Atlantic flight from East to West on April 12, 1928 - April 13, 1928.

After the flight

April 14-26 1928 Reporters and photographers rushed towards Greenly Island to cover the story of the Bremen and its crew. At the height of the activity, there were 60 reporters who were covering the story from the field. Canadian Transcontinental Airways pilot C. A. "Duke" Schiller, acting as a reporter for the Toronto Daily Star, arrived at Greenly on Sun April 15, 1928. Shortly afterwards, Canadian Transcontinental Airways Chief Pilot, Roméo Vachon arrived with four passengers: photographers Roy Fernstom of Associated Press and Edward N. Jackson of Pacific and Atlantic Photos, with reporters Leslie Roberts of Hearst and James Stanton of the Quebec Chronicle Express.

Related Topics:
April 15 - 1928

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roméo Vachon was not only a pilot but also a licensed engineer. He is reported to have declared that the Junkers could not fly because its engine's crankshaft was bent. This did not prevent others from trying to fly the Bremen off Greenly Island. However, they were never able to start the engine.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

26 Apr 1928: After 13 days of fruitless attempts to repair the Bremen and fly it to New York, the three flyers left Greenly Island on a Ford Trimotor Airplane flown by Bernt Balchen. They flew to Curtis Field, Long Island, New York with a stop at Lac Ste. Agnes, Quebec. Also aboard the plane were Charles J. V. Murphy (reporter from the New York World) and Ernest Köppen (mechanic from Junkers).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The crew of the Bremen then began a two-month tour of cities in North America and Europe to be celebrated as heroes:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mon 30 April 1928: Parade in New York City over a route ten miles long.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wed 2 May 1928: Each of the three fliers received the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Coolidge in Washington, D.C.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wed 9 May 1928: Philadelphia, PA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thu 10 May 1928: Cleveland, Ohio

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official welcome to Chicago on Fri and Sat, 12 and 13 May 1928. Sun 13 May 1928: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tue 15 May 1928: Saint Louis, Missouri

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thu 17 May 1928: Detroit, Michigan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fri 18 May 1928: Boston, Massachusetts

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mon 21 May 1928: Albany, New York

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tue 22 May 1928: Montreal, P.Q., Canada

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wed 23 May 1928: Quebec, P.Q., Canada

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fri 25 May 1928: Back in New York

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

9 Jun 1928: The three flyers sailed for Europe aboard the Columbus.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

18 Jun 1928: The Columbus arrived in Bremerhaven. The flyers were feted in the city of Bremen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

19 Jun 1928: The three flyers flew to Berlin aboard the Europa 11, a sister ship to the Bremen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thu 21 Jun 1928: The flyers were received by President Hindenburg.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

30 Jun 1928: The names of the three flyers were added to the "Roll of the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Visited Hungary and Austria (dates and cities unknown).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tue and Wed, 3 and 4 July 1928: The flyers were feted in Dublin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thu 5 July 1928: Welcomed in the city of Limerick.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fri 6 July 1928: The flyers met the abdicated Kaiser in Doorn Castle in Holland. They stayed in Doorn over the weekend and then separated as their tour ended.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James was promoted to Major retroactively to 13 Apr 1928.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James was promoted to Colonel on 24 Aug 1928. The appointment was backdated one year (with back pay).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Circa 2 Feb 1929: James resigned from the Irish Air Corps.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Circa Jan 1931: James and Violet were divorced.208

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

27 Feb 1933: While in Germany attempting to negotiate with German aircraft manufacturers, James saw the Reichstag building in Berlin burn down. On the same trip, James had a meeting with Adolf Hitler.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James spent most of the 1930s in the vicinity of New York City.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During World War II, James operated a club for servicemen in London. An article written by Andrew A. Rooney (then a staff writer, later a TV star) for the 8 June 1943 edition of Stars and Stripes notes that James was a member of the newly formed "London Hanger" of the "Quiet Birdmen", an international social club for veteran fliers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the late 1940s, James returned to Ireland to look for work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In early 1953, James resided at Garville Avenue, Rathgar.207

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

April 1953: As the only survivor of the crew of the Bremen, James took part in the remembrance ceremony "25 years of the first East to West Transatlantic flight". In memory of his friends Köhl and von Hünefeld, he laid down a wreath on this occasion. On 10 Apr 1953, Col. Fitzmaurice was welcomed in Bremen. Upon arrival at the airport he was picked up in a modern "Borgward Hansa 1500 Sport Cabrio" escorted by police motor-cycles. He stayed in Bremen until April 17 and took the opportunity to fly at the local airfield with flying instructor Jan Eilers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 June 1955: James was a guest of honor on board the Lufthansa route trial flight E4 400/01 from Shannon to New York. Lufthansa made a photo showing James with German Minister of Transport, Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, and Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer, Hans M. Bongers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

8 June 1955: The successful trial was followed by the first scheduled flight. The Lockheed Super Constellation L-1049 G took off from Hamburg and flew via Düsseldorf and Shannon to New York-Idlewild. The time elapsed between liftoff at Hamburg and touchdown at Idlewild was 17 hours. The aircraft, D-ALEM, was restored by Horst Jahnke and is now exhibited at the Munich airport.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

27 July 1955: A Lufthansa representative met with James in Dublin, at 15, Lr. Pembroke Street to hand over a photo of a previous meeting with Lockheed in New York. James indicated that he was about to leave Ireland because there was no work for him in aviation. James said that Ireland had lost its importance as a port of departure for North Atlantic flights with the development of new types of aircraft.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 Sep 1965: James was invited as a guest of honor to attend the International Traffic Exhibition (Internationale Verkehrsausstellung, IVA) which had opened on 25 Jun 1965 in Munich, Germany. On the aviation honor day, James was presented with the special air pioneer award, "die Pioneer Kette der Windrose" and a breast pin set with a brilliant, an honor granted previously to such personalities as Wernherr von Braun, Wolfgang von Gronau, and the Russian Cosmonaut Komaroff. During his journey to and from Munich, it was noticeable that the health of James was failing but he was reluctant to use a wheelchair. (Lufthansa Archive)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James died on Sunday, 26 September 1965 in Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin.

Related Topics:
26 September - 1965

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James received a state funeral followed by interment at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~