Demo Two – Fairey Gordon

Here a Fairey IIIF has a Chinese message painted on a strip of fabric that was affixed to its side so that flood relief surveys that were required by the Chinese Government in September 1931 could be safely do ne. Over 1 million Chinese citizens had drowned from the Yantze River flooding. The IIIFs were based on HMS Hermes in Hangchow and the message was ti reassure the Chinese warring factions that the aircraft were Neutral. As an aside – the famous American Av iator Charles Lindberg also offered his aircraft to assist and crashed in doing so. 14 August 1933, this aircraft ended up in the ocean off the coast of Wei - Hai - Wei , operating from HMS Hermez where it was repaired to fly another day.

This aeroplane on 27 March 1929 struck trees on a hillside and was destroyed on WEI - Hai Wei .

207Sqn

K1766

Formation flying over The Pyramids of Gaza

We can now concentrate on the service given in the late 1920s and into the 1930s of the Fairey IIID – G in Hong Kong and Mainland China with the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. British Aircraft Carrier HMS Argus’s Fairey IIIDs were in use in what was then called the ‘’Fire Brigade’’ operations taking place in 1926 Shanghai. HMS Hermes Fairey IIIF on China Station 1928 - 29