In this period as a senior Captain, James piloted Hythes (x 8)

& Sandringhams (x 5) converted from the WW2 Sunderlands,

from the UK to Cairo and to Karachi, before he captained the

inaugural Solent Class flight on BOAC's new Springbok FB

Route to a terminal at Vaaldam for transfer to Johannesburg.

Joined by Capt. Teddy Rotheram & the Mayoral Delegation,

James with the G-AHIN Southampton received much media

attention in this brief swansong for BOAC Flying Boats to the

31st. November 1950 oft referred to as BOAC’s Last Hurrah

for its Flying Boats, as Landplanes were certainly prevailing !

Yet during his lifetime he was ostensibly a gentle, a quietly

unassuming, and a private person, even though he had been

singled out in the compilation of the Air Ministry’s account

‘Merchant Airmen' (pub. HMSO, 1946) in a series of iconic

photographs featuring G-AFRA Cleopatra on a journey to

Cairo, where James alongside Capt. Caspareuthus had marked

the pending demise of the splendour of the historic C-Class...

The Life & Times of Capt. James Peers (1917-2010)

This route, via E.Africa, then the Rift Valley, up the R. Nile to

Cairo, then on to Baghdad, Basra & Karachi - before hooking

round and down to Calcutta, Rangoon, Bangkok, to Singapore,

Darwin to Sydney (with a connection to Auckland) had stages

of approx. 700 miles - including intermediate refuelling stops,

(James quipped it was more akin to a Banana) & continued till

Japanese forces entered the War, and then took Singapore etc.

Vital links to the UK & the US were restored via River Congo

and West Africa + Portugal to BOAC's base at Poole Harbour.

He frequently flew ‘Cs’ Durban - Cairo (with 200 return trips)

and the section thro’ to Karachi etc. (he never got to Australia).

James piloted a total of 14 of the C-Class types - from famous

class leader G-ADHL Canopus, Caledonia, Cambria, Castor,

Cassiopeia, Corsair, Ceres, Cameronian, Coorong, Carpentaria

& Cooee, + S30 types G-AFCT Cathay & G-AFKZ Champion,

through to a S33 type G-AFRA Cleopatra which he admitted

was his particular favourite when flying along the River Nile !

In 1944 James returned to the UK in a Wellington bomb-bay to

collect G-AFCI Golden Hind and fly the link route to Durban,

where he remained based till Peace, and then eventual closure

of BOAC’s Congella base & the African part of the Horseshoe.

In the postwar era, there would be no return for Captain Peers

to his former professional training at University as an architect.

James’ last C-Class flight was in bringing G-ADVB Corsair

(- of ‘Corsairville fame’) finally back to Poole in January 1947

before Corsair was flown to be dismantled at Southampton, to

be followed by BOAC Flying Boat Services transferred there

to the new Berth 50 in April 1948, and Poole was closed down.

It was snowing as James crossed Sandbanks to alight at Poole !

Captain James Peers: PFBC’s Honorary Commodore, Air

Born on 15th. November 1917 in Cardiff, Captain James Peers

died at his home by Branksome Chine, Poole on 1st. May 2010

James was formerly with the RAF, BOAC & BA and Gulf Air.

He was the last surviving of the Short Empire C-Class Flying

Boat Captains with BOAC, and a very keen supporter of PFBC.

A Good Friend to us All, we will certainly miss him from our

Celebrations: He was so looking forward to the Sandbanks 70.

His first visit to Poole was immediately prewar when he sailed

with a group of friends round from Penarth, and moored up at

night off Poole Harbour Yacht Club, which would eventually

become the home of BOAC’s Marine Terminal during WW2 !

He also saw his first Flying Boats in the Solent on that voyage.

Posted with the RAF to South Africa in April 1940, travelling

on the Union Castle Liner Arundel Castle from Southampton,

he trained to be a pilot at an RAF Flying School in Rhodesia

and earned his Wings with Distinction & joined 70 Squadron.

James enjoyed joking that he 'Flew a Pair of Wellingtons' in

the Middle East ...indeed he survived one of these 2 crashing !

He transferred to 216 Transport Command - where he got the

opportunity to be seconded to the Flying Boats ops at Durban:

Out of the 24 RAF volunteers he was one of 5 to be successful

and who with BOAC subsequently attained the rank of Captain.

When cut off from the UK, a route north from Durban to Cairo

and then s.eastwards became fondly known as The Horseshoe.

Jim

→

Capt. Peers & Capt. Caspar

with G-AFRA Cleopatra at

Laropi on the Nile in 1946

‘Springbok Route’

G-AHIN Berth 50

on 4th. May 1948

Corsair at Lake

January 1947

checked for ice

Poole Flying Boats Celebration Charity No. 1123274

Trustee Special Newsletter: Summer 2010

PFBC now reaches

more parts in 2010 !

Welcome to our Newsletter ~ for Members, Friends & Supporters

www.pooleflyingboats.com (THE ' OPUS in colour)

THE

' OPUS

©

THE PFBC TRUSTEES… Commodore: Ken Sanson (also Chair of the Trustees)

V Commodore: Harry Alexander

Flight Officer: Bertie Bowman

Flag Officers: Aimée Alexander (PFBC Archivist)

Babs Plumbridge (Memories) *01202 737780 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Hon. Commodore, Air: Captain James Peers*

Patron: Lady Nadine Cobham ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Honorary President: Jack Harris

Hon. Vice Presidents: Leslie Dawson & Douglas Cook OBE,

Jeremy Waters, Colin Pomeroy, Adrian Borrill

with Harry H. Pusey and John Witcomb

also including Ian Andrews (who Represents all of our HLMs)

Please Join PFBC Friends for £5

Friends of PFBC: Own address...with Bertie Bowman

at... 113 Commercial Road, Parkstone, Poole BH14 0JD

The same applies to offers of Membership of the PFBC Task Forces -

or assistance to benefit PFBC’s Archive: Contact Harry Alexander and all other general enquiries - via PFBC’s Office reg’d. address:

PFBC... at 113 Banks Rd., Sandbanks, Poole BH13 7QQ

PFBC Email: info@pooleflyingboats.com

PFBC Website: www.pooleflyingboats.com (+ Forumsite)

(UK Charity 1123274)

Senior ‘Hons.’

within PFBC

Although Capt. Peers was to continue his illustrious long career

with BOAC, captaining the Comets, Britannias and Boeings etc.,

he will be fondly remembered for his contribution to Flying Boat

History & his longterm association with Poole Harbour (like many

of the ex-Flying Boat aircrew), where he greatly enjoyed sailing !

James was primarily responsible for the alteration (aka the Peers

Modification) of the wing floats on the Solents, where significant

problems were at first encountered - but recognised & diagnosed

with the use of photography as his own arrangement to influence

BOAC’s top brass and Short’s Engineers to realign their floats...

This rightly brought James further recognition of his outstanding

knowledge of various of the Flying Boats’ attributions with the

celebratory presentation by TEAL Tasman Empire Airways Ltd.

on production of Solent 4s for New Zealand, and where Princess

Elizabeth was at Short Harland in Belfast to view Aotearoa II.

James once held responsibility for Flying Boats’ Health & Safety

at Hythe & was prominent in BALPA being an expert nominated

by BOAC to join the Crash Investigation team for 3 early Comets.

In retirement with his friend (- with the great nickname Biggles),

he delighted Channel-hopping in a light aircraft for a decent meal

(his passion for good food) in France, or sight-seeing in the CIs !

He vividly recalled all his journeys by Flying Boats / hospitality

with adventures in very far-flung places...for Poole's Flying Boat

network once reached right across Europe to Africa, India, Asia,

then through to Australia etc. (also to North + South America) !

He was a keen supporter of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust Charity

and loved watching the Bournemouth Air Fest from his home...

Poole Flying Boats Celebration was so greatly honoured to have

dear Captain James Peers as first Honorary Commodore, Air !

His privacy is honoured at his

specific request in respect to

any reference to his family →

to Jean and his 3 stepchildren

Final Photo:

Dear James

Celebrating

at LSC, on

25th. March

James dug out this photograph of himself in a Solent Class FB

at Poole in the Spring of 1948, just before moving to the Solent.

This was on the occasion of our PFBC Salterns 60 Celebration

at Salterns Marina Hotel - formerly Poole Harbour Yacht Club

before it was requisitioned by firstly the Army & then the RAF.

It served as HQs for 461 Squadron (followed by 210) and RAF

Transport Command with BOAC: Postwar BOAC to April ’48.

James’ association with Poole was in 1944 with Golden Hind,

then with occasional flights from SA, until January 1947 when

he brought home Corsair and was based here up to April 1948.

He joined with his great friend Taffy Barrow & other captains.

So James was 30+ years at the time of this photo & he enjoyed

the novelty that this tied in with a Diamond Jubilee Celebration.

Celebrating the Life and Times of Capt. James Peers

PFBC is recently having to come to terms with the loss of our

Honorary Commodore, Air: Capt. James Peers (1917-2010).

It is such a very little time ago that we were all at the Flying

Fish n Chip Supper held at Lilliput Sailing Club, 25th. March,

and he was so looking forward to the next PFBC Celebration

of the RNAS Sandbanks’ 70th. at the RMYC, on the 8th. July.

After much cooperation the Timesonline carried an Obituary www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7132215.ece

PFBC has lost several very good Friends since last Summer,

yet it’s wonderful to have enjoyed our Celebrations with them.

James would certainly not want us to be maudlin in any way !

A lasting fond Memory is of Dave Rose as a former coxswain

who knew James from Cape Maclear’s BOAC Station on the

Springbok Route, in the time-honoured way asking to come

alongside: Granted...the 2 of them sat down to swap stories !

Fond Memories !