The Aeroconservancy Museum Original Artifacts from 1914-1918
R.N.A.S. Pilot who Ditched in the Sea
Late on the night of Sunday, 2nd Sept., 1917, Flight Sub-Lieut. W.E. 'Willie' Foster and his Observer, Hector Burns, of 'G' Flight, No. 2 Wing, Royal Naval Air Service, ditched their bomb-laden Henri Farman F.27 No. 9136 into the sea, managed to set it alight, and were picked-up by Turkish naval craft and interned for the rest of the war. The photo is of Foster and the log book's his. On the back of the photo of the F.27 he wrote "Mudros My Aeroplane." Foster and Burns had taken off from Marsh Aerodrome next to the little town of Mudros on Lemnos, a small island in the Aegean not far from the Dardanelles and Gallipoli, along with three other F.27s. Their aeroplane was heard buzzing over Thermi at 2 in the morning and the came down off Kara buran. Foster filled-out his logbook earlier that day after going on a 100 minute long "Submarine Patrol No.1" with Burns. He eventually met up with his logbook again, after the war, but never penned-in the details of his last patrol. Note that the map, large group photo, and newspaper clipping are copies.