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
May 1928 a Fairey IIIF landed badly in fog on Chefu Harb
our in Northern China but both pilots
survived.
This aeroplane on 27 March 1929 struck trees on a hillside and was destroyed on WEI-Hai Wei.
Saturday 27 April 1929, a failed landing at Kai Tak Hong Kong unfortunately crashed into a tea house on a busy corner killing 3 Chinese residents within.
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 done. 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 to reassure the Chinese
warring factions that the aircraft were Neutral. As an aside – the famous American Aviator 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.
Note: The images on this page are used with permission from Philip Jarrett
